Ozymandias in Love
by Pranaya Rosa
Summary: Multi-billionaire and superhero, Adrian Veidt, abruptly falls for a stranger and does anything in this power to make her his. His attraction seems superficial to her at first, but his sentiments could not be more genuine.
1. Chapter 1

He watched her from afar. He noticed her as soon as he saw her walk through the elevator door in the lobby of his office. He was waiting for the captains of industry; the CEO's and their entourage, to discuss their energy crisis. He prepared himself for a room full of stiff, republican men, ageing and clad in their thousand dollar suits. What he did not expect was this woman, who trailed behind them.

"Mr. Veidt, how nice to see you again," said the first man. He was wearing a black pinstripe suit with a black tie and what looked to be very expensive black shoes. How grim; how mundane.

What was not mundane was this woman. Her jet black hair was wispy with waves and curls of mayhem. Her face seemed to glow beneath her hair, a creamy tan that he had never seen before. Her silhuiette was one that would make a man weep. The silhuiette of a real woman, so rarely seen these days. Her curves and mounds resembled her hair. Her breasts were hidden under her silk blouse. As she walked, he could see the natural movement of them. Her chest led down to a small waist, sinched by the top of her skirt. Her hips flared out, creating a perfect hourglass shape.

But beautiful women are everywhere. He saw them everyday. Beauty itself was mundane to him, too.

It wasn't her beauty that struck him. It was her innocent aura. The caution with which she made eye-contact with my staff, the way she held her folders, yet her stride was young and vibrant. Confident without being arrogant, but still shy.

Adrian Veidt was the smartest man in the world. He was a superhero. He had a multi-billion dollar empire. He. Had. Everything.

Except her.

His eyes stayed on her face as the group of men walked through the lobby of his floor and into his office. The men had their hands extended, their sickeningly professional smiles that Adrian knew well enough were not genuine. As she turned from the receptionist's desk to the path leading to him in his office, her eyes did not even scan the man before her. He was amazed to see her gaze went straight to the view of the city, behind him.

The entire back wall of his office was glass. He didn't face it when he was sitting at his desk but gave that luxury to the people sitting across from him. It was a sight to behold. Unfortunately, as his youthful years passed, he never once witnessed any of his business partners or associates take pleasure in the view. No one appreciated the beauty of it like he did. Except for this girl. Instead of staring at Adrian, an international celebrity, Adrian was pleasantly surprised, albeit a little disappointed, when her eyes riveted directly to the skyline. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped, probably without her even realizing it. Adrians lips twisted into a smirk at her disinterest in him.

"Mr. Veidt…" said the greying oil tycoon. Adrian composed himself, realizing that he had completely ignored the man before him.

"Mr. McAlaster, forgive me. What a pleasure to meet with you gentlemen today." The circle of five men nodded and shook hands with Adrian, accepting his welcome. Adrian looked to the girl, hoping she would extend her hand as well, looking for a chance to get closer to this creature. She just stared back at him, confused at what she should do. She froze, unsure of whether offering her hand would be an overstep on her part. She was just an aid after all. An aid's job is usually to stay invisible unless called for by their employers.

She noticed he looked at her strangely. She didn't understand what his blank staring meant.

Adrian saw that she was unsure about the level of formality of this office, which was usually quite high, but he could sense she was out of her element, and decided to ease her a bit. Either that, or further her level of discomfort by embarrassing her. He gave her a small smile as he walked through his large office towards her, through the group of industry leaders. He saw the look of shock on her beautiful face and his heart swelled a little. He wanted her, he wanted this creature. Every second he watched her, she did something else that made him feel something. Something unfamiliar.

He made his way towards her and motioned with his arm for them to step outside his office, through the lobby, into another hallway which was baron. She hesitated, her eyes running over his face, trying to weed out his intentions, and then she looked at her employer standing 10 feet away. He nodded at her, giving her permission to leave. He seemed just as befuddled as she was.

She assumed he was escorting her out because the meeting he was holding delved into some information she was not meant to know. But when he finished leading her into the small, empty hallway, he turned around and looked at her. He looked deep into her eyes. She felt butterflies in her stomach. She had never been in such close proximity to a member of the Watchmen before, or any celebrity. Her stomach turned upside down when he continued staring. She swallowed, her mouth dry.

He smiled at her nervousness, and extended his hand, "Hello, I am Adrian Veidt." The girl stared at him, meeting his hand with hers.

"I know who you are." Adrian met her hand and felt at twinge of excitement. He wasn't sure what was happening to him. Why was he so interested in this girl? Why did being so close to her make his heart beat faster? Adrian realized he had moved very close to her body, unintentionally. He didn't step back. Instead he let his eyes run over her face. Her eyes were almost as dark as her hair, a beautiful chocolate brown, surrounded by a fan of long, dark eyelashes. Her eye brows were twisted, evidence of her befuddlement at his actions towards her. Her nose was thin and straight, leading down to lush, pink lips. So pillowy soft they were, he felt himself lick his lips at the sight of them, but refrained from the temptation to kiss her. Her cheeks were pink, high-set. Even being an agnostic (not knowing whether or not to believe God existed), he called out to God in his mind and thanked him for this creature before him. Her silky bangs fell in front of her eyes, and he swept them aside. Adrian felt his heart burst with joy as he realized he had found her. The one he had been awaiting for the last 35 years. The girl who would make his life _complete_.

"Is something wrong Mr. Veidt?" the girl asked. She was beginning to think he was crazy. Extraordinarily handsome. But crazy.

"No, nothing is wrong." He spoke slowly. Carefully. As was his style. "Forgive me for intruding, but may you be so kind as to tell me your name?"

"Angelina…"

"Angelina." He closed his eyes as he recited the name. Adrian was not sure what to make of this sudden need for her. He didn't understand it. He was surrounded by beautiful women everyday in his empire. And he had only watched the creature before him for a few moments before he realized that she was his. _~How could this be happening?~ _He asked himself. _~I have felt love before, and it is not this sudden… Who is this witch?~_

"Mr. Veidt, I-" He opened his eyes, stopping her words.

"Please… call me Adrian."

"Okay. Adrian…" she shook her head, "No, Mr. Veidt. Is there something I can help you with? Are you cancelling the meeting?"

"No, the meeting has not been cancelled."

"Because if it has, I'm sure my employer will fully understand, you know, if you're not feeling well, or if something else has come up." He was watching her lips as she babbled on. Her need to fill the silence was obviously to ease her discomfort with it, but Adrian knew better than to stop her. Watching her mouth move was igniting in him a burn so deep that, for the first time in his life, he was unsure what to do. He became conscious of his breathing, and tried to keep it normal, as he realized what was about to happen. His life was about to be completely altered.

"I am feeling fine Angelina. Please… call me Adrian." His husky words were followed by an abrupt kiss. He leaned down, pressed his lips against hers, kissed her breathless. He wanted her, he needed her. He didn't understand why, but he didn't care. She was going to be his for eternity, and he would make sure of it.

Angelina froze when he kissed her, realizing what all the staring was for. His cologne smelled extraordinary, his breath smelled like apples. But all the delicious fragrances in the world could not make her falter. He wanted to have sex with her. He wanted to use her. She pulled away from the kiss, regretting it instantly, but knew it was necessary is she wanted to keep her dignity. Adrian looked down at her, her mere 5'6 not comparable to his 6'3. His eyes were glazed over as he tried to focused on her face.

"This is why you brought me out here! To have sex with me before your meeting?" She looked around and motioned at the walls. "Is there a secret room in these walls? Or maybe you just push a button and a fucking bed flips out." Her hands were shaking with adrenaline, partly because she was furious that someone would think so low of her, much less Adrian Veidt, but partly because she was immensely turned on. Adrian shook his head in saddness, realizing what he had done.

"Angelina, I am sorry. I do not know what came over me…" His eyes ran over her face a few more times. He was terrified he would never see it again. Angelina tried to break free of his arms, tears welling up. She wanted him, but she knew she couldn't. She didn't want to be his whore, yet she did. Adrian let her go, not wanting to imprison her. She gave him one hard stare before turning to walk to the elevators. He felt his heart skip a beat at the thought of never seeing her again. He chased after her, not willing to let her go. He caught the elevator door before it closed, and walked in. She watched him, not feeling particularly threatened as his face was grievous rather than psycho.

"Angelina, please let me explai-"

"Explain what! That you saw me walk into your office and the first thing you thought was, 'I'd like to fuck that.'" Her face was hot with humiliation.

"No, of course not. Like I said, I don't know what came over me. I am so sorry if I hurt you." Angelina refused to meet his eyes.

"Then why'd you do it?" Adrian felt the urge to run his hands through her glistening tresses. They bounced when she shook her head. Adrian pictured how her hair would bounce when he made love to her and he clenched his fists at the thought. _If_ he ever made love to her. Angelina looked up when he didn't answer and gaped at his body's intense stance. His eyes opened and he lost his breath when he saw her eyes, red and watery, her cheeks were flushed, and her bangs were in her eyes again.

"Please understand Angelina," he spoke slowly, choosing his words carefully, "…that I do not understand my own behaviour." He saw her lick her lips, and felt a tremor course through him when he thought what that tongue would feel like on him. Angelina saw the tremor and felt her nipples harden. She wanted him so bad. Adrian looked down at her tight blouse and saw her body's reaction to him.

He snapped.

He took out a key from his pocket and shoved it inside a slot under the elevator buttons. Twisting it, he punched in a code and the elevator started to move up. Angelina's eyes were wide, she looked at Adrian. He stared her down until they reached the 150th floor. The doors opened to reveal an immaculate home. His home, she guessed. He stepped out and she followed him, having an idea of where this would lead.

He walked stiffly to his bedroom, taking off his jacket and throwing on the chair next to his bed. He turned around and watched her face as he undid his tie and unclipped his cufflinks. He threw them where his jacket lay. Angelina felt a tingle inside her tummy. She wanted this. She wanted him. To hell with what anyone would think of her. No one had to know. She made her way into his bedroom. She walked right up to where he stood and began unbuttoning his shirt with shaking hands. She watched his face as she did this and felt her nipples harden painfully when she saw his expression. Pure lust that was overflowing in his eyes. She pulled out the shirt tails and began to unbuckle his belt. Adrian slipped his shirt off and began to unbutton hers. He felt the excitement of a child opening his present on Christmas Eve. He knew he wasn't supposed to, but he didn't care. As he saw the lining of her black lace bra, he felt himself harden in anticipation. He pulled apart the rest of her shirt, popping the buttons. Superhuman strength came in handy in situations like this. He ran his hands over her waist, over her arms, over her breasts. Then he slipped his hands behind her back and held her body tighly against his. He looked down at her face.

"Are you sure want this?" Her lids were half-closed, she was at the prime of her excitement. He held her face with one hand and spoke louder. "Angelina, do you want this?" All it took was one nod of her head. He unclipped her bra and threw it aside. He stared at her full breasts like a starving man. He didn't hesitate before he picked her up, maiden style, and swung her over his bed before placing her down up on it. He roughly pulled off her skirt and finished undressing himself. He was bare as he stood before her. She couldn't take her eyes off him. He climbed over her and attacked her breasts with his mouth, making her moan loudly. She ran her fingers through his hair and held him there, suckling on her breasts. He swirled his tongue around one breast, then the other, sucking loudly as he went. He moved up and locked her mouth in a breathtaking kiss. His chest heaved with pleasure as he felt her wet nipples brush against his chest. He broke the kiss and stared deep into her eyes. Her eyes were glazed over from the pleasure of being violated. He held her face as his body hovered above hers. He knew she was thoroughly wet, so he didn't bother to caress here there. Yet. Her eyes finally focused on his, as he said, "I love you Angelina. You ignite something in me that I cannot explain. You will be mine forever." His breath almost hitched as he finished off by saying, "And now I'm going to fuck you." Angelina's eyes shut fiercly as her body reacted to those words. That was all it took. He spread her legs, guided his cock to her entrance, and rammed himself into her, eliciting a piercing scream from her.

She was a virgin. He broke her.

He froze. She was so tight he couldn't take it. She had never been stretched like this before. He was her first. He looked down on her as her chest heaved with pleasure. Her eyes finally opened and met with his. She was his, he had already decided that. But he did not know she was an innocent. He would have been much more gentle.

"Fuck me." Adrian slammed into her in response to her words, his body acting for him. Every thrust into her wetness made her scream. She was loving it and so was he. He rammed himself into her, rough and fast, moaning at the raw earthly pleasure of being inside her. Inside this heavenly angel. "Mr. Veidt!" She met his thrusts with her rocking, and he grew harder. Her back arched at the feeling of him throbbing inside her. Throbbing with pleasure. He bent down to suckle on her breasts a little more before raising himself to watch them bounce and shake as he fucked her senseless. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He could feel she was close. He watched the face of his future wife as he brought her to the edge of sanity, and proceeded to push her over, watching her fall hard. She came, screaming, her nails digging into his back. She bucked and writhed intensly, but he held her arms above her head with ease. He groaned, watching her body quiver, and felt himself cum. His loud groans of pleasure were drowned out by her screams and whimpers. He watched tears stream down her face, and he just trusted harder into her, wanted to give her all the pleasure she could imagine. When he gave her the last drops of his seed, he buried his face in her breasts, gasping for air, trembling, smiling at the feel of her body still clenching around his manhood. He kissed her chest. Her sighs of content delighted him. They made him want to pleasure her still. He looked at the face of the woman he would devote the rest of his life to. She gazed up at him, shyly basking in his awe of her.

She couldn't understand his fascination with her. At first she assumed he just wanted a fuck. But, to her wonderment, Adrian had told her she was his forever. He had told her that he loved her. As she looked up into his eyes, she wanted desperately to believe his sentiments were genuine. But, in her heart of hearts, she knew that what he said must be part of his routine to get a woman to surrender to him.

She closed her eyes, wanting to push away the thoughts of what she had just done. She didn't want to think about all the ways this was wrong. All she wanted to do was focus on this very moment. Lying in Adrian Veidt's arms. Hearing him say that he loved her. Feeling the tingly pleasure of afterglow. "Lina?" Angelina opened her eyes. "Is something the matter my love?" Angelina's brows furrowed. Adrian's glow died a little, at the thought that he may have hurt her. "Lina."

"Lina?" asked Angelina.

"Yes. Lina. It's a lovely take on an already beautiful name. Unless you have reservations about it, my love."

"Love?" Angelina didn't want to play this game anymore. "Please don't say that Mr. Veidt." Adrian shook his head, saying,

"Call me Adrian, Lina. My surname is for formal contacts."

"Am I not one of them?" Adrian bent lower to kiss her breasts again.

"Not quite…" whispered Adrian. She sighed, feeling his lips tease her into a tangle of nerves. "Why can I not call you love?"

"Because. Hearing it only reminds me that what has just happened was not because of love, but lust. White, hot lust." She shivered as his fingers left a trail of fire down the side of one breast.

"Love," he spoke gravely, "I am not sure what you must think of me after taking you so abruptly and claiming you for my own. And I cannot explain how or why you've taken a hold of me so suddenly. But this is how I feel. I speak the truth." Angelina shook her head and looked away. She wanted to leave now. But he turned her face back to his. "I rarely find myself at a loss for words. But now, I find that all I can say is that I need you. Truly, and deeply. As my thoughts gather in the coming few hours and days, and as I fully comprehend that my life will forever be altered, I will form a more precise description for what I feel for you. For how tightly your life is now stitched to mine. Will that subdue you for now?" Angelina nodded stupidly. Adrian rolled onto his back and pulled his new love with him, so that she was now lying on top of his body. Angelina smiled at the feel of his rock solid form against her soft one. Even after what Adrian said to her, she still was not sure what to think about what was happening between them. But she wanted to ignore her inner voice and just bury herself in the pleasure of this moment. The feel of him still inside of her. Lying in the arms of this true, blue Superman. His hands were in her hair, holding her head on his chest. He could not get enough of this woman.

"Can I ask you something Mr. Veidt?" Adrian sighed sharply.

"Not if you keep addressing me as such." Adrian lifted his head and met her eyes. "Why cannot you call me by my name?"

"Because it would be improper of me."

"Lina, you are going to be my wife. Which would make it improper for you to _not_ call me by my first name." Adrian felt Lina's body tense up.

"What?" Lina shook her head, and sat upright, straddling his defined abdomen. "Now I know you're dicking with me." She leaned over the side of the bed, looking for her clothes.

"Dicking with you?" Adrian was starting to get agitated. She kept trying to leave. Could she not understand that she belonged to him?

"Wife?" Angelina smirked, not meeting his gaze. He was embarrassing her on purpose now. "You don't even know me Mr. Veidt. You're the smartest, and probably one of the richest men in the world." She found her blouse and examined the damage. "And the second I walk into your office, you decide to fuck me and then marry me?" She laughed at the absurdity of it. "Right." Adrian was watching her move the entire time she was on top of him, ranting. His eyes followed her delectible body as she leaned over him, over the bed. He watched the way her breasts shook. He waited until Lina felt it.

And then she froze.

She felt him harden inside of her. A tremor coursed through her. Adrian smiled mischievously as he reached up to fondle her breasts, feeling himself grow harder still as he remembered giving them the full attention of his mouth. Her nipples became hard and she leaned into his touch. His smile grew; she wanted him. He raised himself up on his elbows and kissed and licked her nipples. He wanted to hear her moan. She leaned in further, lovingly wrapping her arms around his head to keep him there. The feel of lips suckling on her breasts made her rock against his body, without thinking. The grinding against his penis surprised him with a jolt of pleasure, and he thrust up into her, making her whimper.

He wanted to lay her down again and start ramming into her. But he decided to show her the heights of love-making. He wanted to make her cum several times before he fucked her again…

….::::::….

Lina yawned silently. She raised her arms and straightened her legs to stretch, and took a deep breath. She loved this part of the day. The few seconds of sheer ignorant bliss before you remember all the stress and chores of the day. She smiled contently and opened her eyes.

It was dark. As in, it was night. She looked at the angry red numbers of the digital clock next to her and her jaw dropped. She instantly remembered the last few hours. Adrian Veidt. The sex. The nerve-obliterating pleasure. She turned her head and saw him. The legend himself. Lying naked, next to her. With his arms around her waist.

She knew this was her cue to leave. Her heart cracked at the thought. She didn't want to leave. She never wanted this night to end. But she knew it had to. Mr. Veidt was going to find another woman to have his way with the next day, and the next, and she felt her throat tighten. Her eyes wandered over his perfect body. The lines, the definition, the hard angles. She was the jealous and possessive type by nature. And for some reason she felt that Mr. Veidt belonged to her. She couldn't understand why. Was is because they had shared something spectacular together? Or was it all those things Mr. Veidt kept saying to her. That he was going to make her his wife. Or when he repeatedly told her he loved her.

It was all too much for her to process right now. She wanted to escape this fantasy world she had been dragged into and go home to her apartment. To the safety and familiarity of it. Angelina tried to get up without waking him. She lifted his arm very slowly, slid out from under his grasp, and laid his arm back down. As she stood, she gazed at his form again. She wanted nothing more than to be in his arms and hear him say all those things to her again, even if she knew they weren't true. But she knew it wasn't possible. So the next best thing would be to leave and never come back. That was the least she could do for him after he showed her the art of love-making. Something she never had the courage to undertake with anyone else. She was going to walk out of his home, out of his life, and never come back. He would want it that way.

She forced herself to get a grip and find her clothes. She slid into her bra and panties, and pulled her skirt on. But when she saw her blouse, she blushed as she remembered what he had done to it.

~Oh well. It's dark outside. I'll just hold it closed and tuck the bottom in. No one will notice,~ She thought to herself. Resisting the urge to kiss him one last time, she gathered the rest of her things, and called for the elevator. She stepped inside as the doors opened, and whispered, "Goodbye."

….::::::….

Adrian searched for his love in his sleep. His arms were empty so he called out to her. "Lina?" His eyes opened at the lack of response and he froze. She was gone. He sat up right and called out louder, "Angelina." He stood suddenly and cursed. Not bothering to put on his robe, he stood at his window and searched the streets below; trying to use his superhuman eyesight to spot her somewhere, anywhere. He sighed sharply at the empty streets and marched over to his phone.

"Ethan, did you see a dark-haired girl walk out of the building? In a black skirt, white blouse, and her hair was wavy, reaching mid-back" The man on the other end sounded alert at the way his boss sounded. Mr. Veidt normally spoke very slowly, very calmly. But he sounded extremely stressed at the moment.

"Yes Sir, I did."

"When?" He asked urgently.

"At 2 am? Maybe 3. Do you need me to check the tapes?" Adrian sighed irately, looking at his clock. It read 4:37. His felt his stomach turn at the thought of her in the streets of New York, all alone and unprotected, at 3 in the morning. What was she thinking?

"Mr. Veidt? Is everything all right?"

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	2. Chapter 2

**Oh. My. God.**

I was not expecting reviews. Seriously, I just wrote this story for the hell of it. You guys are sooo cool! You really made my week. I wasn't going to add to the first chapter. Like I said, I had no expectations of it going anywhere. But you guys seemed to like it so much! I was so happy, I started writing a 2nd chapter immediately! I was on vacation the week I posted Chapter 1, so that's why it took so long to update.

You guys rock my sox! Every one of your comments have been read about 50 times and are all dearly appreciated.

(I think I should write a disclaimer, since people are actually reading my lemony nonsense.)

**DISCLAIMER: **Uhh.. I don't own Adrian Veidt. I would love to. You know, so I could violate him sexually, but sadly, he is but a fictional character whom I can never have my way with in real life. Angelina Anderson belongs to me. I made her. She's my baby. Isn't her hair pretty? Also, I'm not associated with Watchmen in anyway, except by being a squealing fan.

….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….

Angelina heaved her binders onto her desk. She was tired. So tired. She hardly got any sleep last night. Her roommate, Jessica, demanded to know where she had been till 4 in the morning. They had been best friends since babyhood, and her roomie refused to let her go to bed until she told her why she was out so late.

Angelina plomped herself, quite ungracefully, onto her chair and swivelled lazily as her mind ran over the last few hours…

….::::::….

"ANG! Where have you _been_?" Shrieked Jessica. "Omigod I called your Dad, Ryan, Molly, everyone! I was about to file a Missing Person's Report!"

Angelina cringed at being caught. She wasn't one to stay out till the wee hours of the morning. In fact, she anticipated this very reaction from Jess, but the experience was a little more annoying in real life. Jess had this high-pitch nasaly voice when she was upset, which sounded like the painful death of a cat. It was like her superpower. If she was a member of the Watchmen, she'd just scream really loud and everyone would keel over with bloody ears.

"Where were you?" Jessica stepped in front of Angelina's line of sight and brushed her bangs out of her best friend's eyes. Angelina tried to hide her saddness but Jessica's eyes instantly softened. Something was wrong. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," She replied, shaking her head. She didn't want to get into this right now. Her head was swimming with emotions and unanswered questions and she wanted to sleep over them before attempting to sort it all out, much less dish to Jess.

"C'mon."

"I'm really tired Jess. And my head's hurting. I'm gonna go to bed." She tried to step aside, but Jess blocked her way.

"At least tell me where you were." Angelina sighed.

"It was a work thing Jess. Please! I'm so tired." Jess raised an eyebrow.

"Kay, first of all, I know you're lying because I called your office and they said you went for a meeting with your boss at noon. The bitch who sits next to you said you hadn't come back for the whole day. And second, that is _the_ lamest excuse ever. What the _hell_ would you be doing at work till 4:00AM? The only reason that anybody would ever stay that late at work would be because they're taking a shot in the mouth. You know, to climb their way up the corporate ladder or whatever they call it. Which I highly doubt you did." Angelina bit her lip and looked away. Jessica's eyes narrowed like a hawk. "Wait…" Her eyes ran over Angelina's haphazardly look. Her hair was messy, her shirt collar was folded wrong, and… Jessica gasped… some buttons on her blouse were gone. "You didn't!" Angie looked like a deer in the headlights. "Ew!" Angelina's mouth dropped at Jessica's reaction.

"_You're_ saying ew to _me_? You gave your first blowie when you were 13 for fuck's sake!"

"Yeah, but I didn't give one to an old fart like you did!"

"Huh?"

"You're talking about McAlaster, right? For what? That promotion?"

"No! Oh my God Jessica… I.. I.. noo." Angie laughed humourlessly at the thought.

"Then who?" Angie composed herself; sobered by the sad thought that she could probably never tell. She never had a heated love tryst before. Was she allowed to divulge the identity of her one-time lover? Was there a code of confidentiality that she was supposed to abide by? She sighed. This would be something that she would normally ask _Jessica_, but Angie knew that Jess would probably lie and tell her it's okay. Just so she could hear the juicy details… Especially if she told her he was famous.

"I can't tell."

"Why not! We've been besties since kindergarden! How can you keep your first bj from me?"

"No, no, it wasn't a bj. I wasn't like that.."

"Then whaaat?" Jessica asked exasperatedly.

"I had sex. Goodnight" And Angie made a break for it. She ran up the stairs, into her room and almost shut the door before Jess plowed her way through it. Jess just stood there, in utter shock, watching Angelina change as if she wasn't there. She watched her as she quickly crawled under the duvet and curled up into a ball. Jess had no words, she just stared. She didn't know where to start. It was obvious that Angie was really uncomfortable about what had happened to her tonight. Her brow furrowed as loving concern overrode selfish curiosity. She walked over to Angelina and crawled under the covers with her. She pulled the blanket over both their heads and held Angie's hands in hers. For a moment, everything was quiet. Angie felt tears brewing and tried desperately not to let them free, or else the sobs would follow and then…

"Jessica?"

"Yeah?"

"What does it mean when a man professes his love for you and tells you he wants to marry you? But you've only known him for like, less than 30 seconds."

"Umm. I'm not sure. Is that what happened to you today?"

"Yes." Silence, as Jessica contemplated the possibilities.

"Did he hurt you?" Angelina's tears started to fall and her breath started to catch.

"No. It was amazing." Jessica snuggled up closer to Ang, till their faces were only inches apart.

"But why didn't you stay with him for the night?"

"Because… I don't think I was supposed to."

"… how'd you figure that?"

"It was just weird, the way he sought me out. He started making-out with me, and then told me he loved me. I mean, I had _just _walked into his office. He couldn't possibly have meant anything he said."

"His _office_?" Angie could hear the grin in Jessica's voice. How scandalous. "Sooo, who is he? How old is he? Is he hot?"

"Can't say. Older. And yes. Oh God yes." Angelina sniffled loudly.

"Really?"

"Jessica. I.. I can't even explain. He's.. other-wordly. Like nothing you've ever seen."

"Wow. It sounds like you're into him. A lot." Angelina bit her lip as she imagined his eyes gazing into hers.

You have no idea."

….::::::….

"Anderson!" She sat straight up with a start. It was that snobby little secretary, Julian, who always treated her like crap. _So what _if he's the right hand man of McAlaster. That didn't give him the right to… you know… treat her like crap.

"Yes?"

"I've been calling your name for 10 minutes!" That was another thing about him. He exaggerated everything.

"What do you need?"

"Mr. McAlaster wants to see you."

"Sure." Angelina got up and started walking towards him. "About what?"

"How the fuck should I know?" He turned and started walking. Angelina rolled her eyes and followed.

Her office was not far from McAlaster's. She was by his door in no time. Julian knocked on the door twice, and opened it.

"Mr. McAlaster?"

"Yes?" His voice was low and scruffy-sounding. His age was apparent. He also sounded like Nixon. That was always a little joke between Angelina and… well.. just herself actually.

"Angelina Anderson."

"Send her in."

He opened the door fully for her to walk in. Angelina had a feeling this was going to be about yesterday. _~What happened anyway? How long did the big guys stay there before they realized Adrian wasn't coming back?~_

"Have a seat," said McAlaster, leaning back into his brown leather chair, which Angie was sure cost more than her rent. "Angelina…" he took off his glasses to get a better look at her. "Where were you yesterday?" She hesitated before she answered. She was sort of a newbie here, and wasn't sure about the dating policy. Would she get fired if he suspected that she slept with his wealthiest associate? Her mind raced as she tried to come up with a reason for not returning.

"Mr. Veidt… umm… offered me a placement at his head office." McAlaster eyed her skeptically. Angie became viciously bitter for a moment. _~He already has a good idea about what had happened. Why is he bothering me about it? Is he trying to embarrass me further?~_

"I see. What sort of placement?"

"I refused his offer… before he gave me any details."

"Oh. You refused did you?" He was smirking slightly. He was enjoying this. "May I ask why?"

"I refused because of my loyalty to this firm." Angelina knew she sounded like a kiss-up, and she was reminded of her high-school days. She hid a smile when she remembered the last day of 10th grade… but that was a whole other story.

"If you refused, then why didn't you return to us in the office?" Angelina had nothing against lying. Except for when one single phone call could bring to light her deceit. She didn't want these lies to snowball out of control. She needed this job.

"Mr. Veidt sent me home. He said the meeting was about something security-tight." The elderly man wasn't even bothering to hide his amusement now.

"But there were other aid's there, too. Why weren't _they_ sent home?" Angelina blushed, feeling redder and redder with every lie.

"Personally, Mr. McAlaster, I think he was offended that I refused to work for him." She gave her words an airy tone. Confidence sounded truthful. "I mean, lets be honest. He only wanted to hire me because of the way I look." Her boss raised an eyebrow. "He doesn't know my credentials. He hasn't spoken to any of my references. He offered me a job not even a minute after I walked into the room." McAlaster was quiet now, absorbing this new possibility. Angelina wished that she had planted a seed of doubt in him. She wanted him to believe her story rather than tell the office she was Ozymandias' tramp.

"Why didn't you call the office to let them know you would not be returning for the day?" He was leaning forward now, with his elbows on his desk and his hands under his chin.

"I left my cell phone in the building." Which was technically true. No need to specificy _where_ in the building.

"Why didn't you go back for it?"

"I decided to get the phone another time because I was already on the subway when I realized I had forgotten it. I was almost home. And also, I was rather startled at 's direct approach to hire me. I was uncomfortable and didn't want to go back right away."

"I see." McAlaster leaned back once again, as if this entire conversation had exhausted him terribly. Angie had to bite back a smile. She won. "Angelina…" McAlaster sighed heavily. "Mr. Veidt called me this morning…"

Her veins turn to ice. For a moment, she couldn't breathe.

"…to say that you had left your phone behind." She felt a chill down her back at the thought that Adrian may have already told her boss the whole scandal, and here she was, lying to his face for the last fifteen minutes.

"Oh?" She sounded much calmer than she felt.

"Well then. You may return to Veidt International to recover your phone."

"I will Sir." She sat there, waiting for his wrath. He just stared.

"…Now."

"Now?" Angie said with a start, her voice abnormally high. "But I'm working."

"Take a personal day, my dear. Mr. Veidt took the time out of his schedule to call me personally for a lost phone. I say the least you can do is take time out of yours." Angie just stared, her mouth open. "I will make sure the work you've been assigned today is taken care of by another aid. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have several meetings to attend." He said with a grin. "Much like the one yesterday."

Angie got up robotically. She turned, opened the door, and walked out. She walked to her office, got her bag, and straightened up her folders so whoever was burdened with her work could sift through it easily. Her mind was racing. _~Adrian called my boss? Just for my phone_?~ She wondered with horror if he had told him anything about last night. Anything at all.

The subway ride was quick and uninterrupted by the usual halting due to 'technical difficulties'. They always said 'technical difficulties', but someone once told her that these sudden halts of service usually happened because someone committed suicide on the tracks. Angelina wondered how painful death by subway could be. She considered the possibility of doing it herself, for when she found out that Adrian told her boss he fucked her.

She got off the subway station and walked the ten minutes or so towards Veidt International. She _loved_ this part of the city. The most beautiful stores were here. Prada, Chanel, and Gucci boutiques. There was no way in hell she could ever afford their luxuries. But window shopping was an acceptable substitute.

Angelina had stopped to look at some of Louboutin's Spring collection of stilettoes. The kind with the blood-red backs. Her mouth almost watered. But her orgasmic orgy of shoe fantisization was interrupted by a feeling. The feeling you get when you're being watched. She turned to look, and saw only New Yorkers, scurrying along with their busy lives. She shrugged to herself and returned to her shoe sex. A few moments later she had the same feeling. She turned fully now and zeroed-in on two men in black suits, all government-looking with their sunglasses and such. She looked around wildly at where she was standing. She didn't know if she was standing near a celebrity or if she was at ground-zero of a terrorist attack. She watched them, but they weren't moving. They were just… standing there.

Angelina began walking away from the scene. She didn't want to be involved in whatever was going down.

She turned the corner and walked toward the glorious building that was Veidt International. It was the tallest building in the city and the architechture was something that she marvelled at. She always had an interest in architecture. She even considered choosing that as her career. Of course, at that age, she also seriously considered becoming an astronaut.

She pushed her way through the revolving doors at the entrance and she caught a glimpse of herself in the glass. She smiled, knowing she looked pretty damn good. She was wearing a thin, fitting dove grey button-down cashmere sweater with pearly buttons. And her swirly black skirt looked lovely with her darker grey heels. The lack of colour was due to the fact she didn't want to stand out too much at work. Not today. Not after ther rumours that must have started circulating. She didn't want to draw too much attention to herself today. But she wore sultry red lipstick for a tiny pop.

Her pace slowed as she neared the main reception desk, which looked like a piece from the Guggenheim. She wondered what to say to the receptionist. Her fists clenched at the thought that the lady might already know about Veidt and her. Angelina wondered if she was just one of hundreds of girls who had been labelled as "Veidt's Fuck." What if there was a whole society of them. Like Alcoholics Anonymous. A small community of Veidt's Fucks who met every weekend to help each other cope with the loss of his pe-

"Ms. Anderson?" She looked up with a start. A pretty girl was standing behind her and gave her a friendly smile. "Are you Ms. Anderson?"

"Yes."

"Please follow me." The girl turned and walked briskly with her hands behind her

back, towards a tiny elevator in the corner that no one else stood near.

Her head was telling her this was the elevator of doom, but her heart pushed her to

follow the tiny woman. The girl took out a key and gracefully placed it in a slot where

the button would normally be. The doors opened instantly and the girl stepped in

for a moment to press a button on the inside, and then stepped back out with her arm held

out, motioning Angie to go inside. She smiled again as the doors closed and Angie stared

blankly, keeping her mind free of thoughts of him. No need to start hyperventilating.

The elevator slowed to a stop and the doors opened with a pretty little ding. Her muscles locked down on her as the very man she didn't want to see -or did she?- came before her eyes, leaning against his desk, waiting for her. For a moment, she couldn't move. She could not transfer the message from her brain to her legs to make them move. In fact, she realized with a start, her lungs weren't working either. She forced herself to breathe in and out, very quietly, but fast enough to satiate her hollow lungs. He still didn't move. He just stared at her. He was too far away for her to really see his face, but his stance looked furious.

She knew that if she didn't start moving, the elevator doors would probably close by default and then she'd just look silly. She forced her legs to move, taking small steps until her body remembered how to walk again, and by the time she made her way across his office, which was about the size an entire continent, she was walking with a cool air of pretend confidence.

His angry eyes ran over her body as she made her way to him. He pictured her the way he saw her the night before. Naked. Trembling. Her hair a tangled mess on his pillows. Her beautiful voice crying out for more. His heart clenched at the thought of her trying to run away from him. He thought long and hard about what he had done to drive her away. _~Had I stripped her of her dignity by claiming her so quickly? Did the ferocity of my need frighten her? Maybe she already belonged to another.~ _The last possibility caused him more crushing angst than he would ever admit.

His heart ached as he watched her body move across his office. The way her silky tresses flew around her face. Her blouse was fitting enough that he could see the outline of the curves his mouth devoured the night before. The swaying of her hips mesmerized him as he pictured gripping them again. She walked with childish grace, realizing that trying to make her his would be like trying to tie down a shooting star. It seemed wrong. Evil almost. Stealing her beauty away from a world which sorely needed it, and keeping it selfishly for himself.

Regardless. He had claimed her. No one else could touch her now.

Finally she reached where he stood. His arms were folded across his chest to keep his hands from reaching out and touching her face or her lips. He didn't need the distraction of her translucent skin under his hand when he had to focus on berating her for putting herself in danger.

She extended her hand in a professional manner. Angelina believed this was the most respectful way to go about things, but Adrian's rage burned in his chest like wildfire. He was a superhuman, in terms of strength, agility, and mental capability. So it only made sense for his emotions to be that much stronger. His body froze in the posture it was in. His heart beat erratically with absolute need to destory everything in his sight. Except for the angel.

_~Who does this girl think she is? How _dare_ she think she can use me and walk out of my life! Shaking hands like a stranger… SHE BELONGS TO ME!~_ Adrian shouted internally, as if someone was in his head to listen to his agony.

His eyes bore into hers with such ferocity. He had no words at this moment. All he could do was convey his anger to this angel before him with his liquid blue eyes.

She took her hand back and blushed, humiliated. She looked down, brushed her bangs out of her eyes, and looked back up at him. Meeting his gaze dead on. She wasn't afraid of his judgements. She wasn't even sure what he was so mad about.

"Mr. McAlaster told me that you spoke with him this morning. I've come to collect my phone. I'm sorry I forgot it. I was… in a hurry when I left it." _~Why is he looking at me like that? What did I _do_?~_ She was afraid to say anything else. More than feeling frightened, she felt a deep ache beneath her breast at the thought that he hated her. He must have sincerely regretting sleeping with her. She wasn't sure why she cared so much, but her blood began pumping loudly in her ears as she quickly ran over the different ways she could approach the subject. Keeping her gaze steady, and using what little courage she had inside of her at this moment, she asked,

"Is something the matter?" Adrian's crossed arms flexed as he remembered that question from the day before. One of the first things he had ever heard come from her soft lips.

"You left last night." His jaw was set, his eyes hard and accusing. Angelina flushed pink. He waited for her to say something, but she just looked away. He felt the urge to hold her head between his large hands and make her face him so he could understand why she would do this to him. He resisted only because he knew once he had a hold of her, he would only devour her mouth. His anger returned as he remembered the torture of last night, when he calculated the probability of his Lina being killed. He felt physical pain at the chance, however slim, that he would never be able to kiss her again. "What were you thinking?" He spoke very low, trying with every ounce of strength to control his anger. He just wanted to make Lina understand. He did not want to frighten her. But Angelina felt no fear. Only confusion.

"Excuse me?' "Three in the morning!" shouted Adrian. He could not control himself now. Angelina took a step back, startled. "What were you thinking Lina! Do you have any idea the things that could have happened to you! Do you know how many people I sent to comb the streets for you?" Angelina's eyes were wide. She was bewildered. Adrian grew ever irritated at her lack of response. He stood upright and began pacing. He ran his hands through his liquid gold hair and sighed, trying to calm himself. He wanted answers from Lina. Shouting at her wasn't going to do anything.

He looked down to her pretty face and glowered. "Why did you leave me last night? Tell me that at least." Angelina finally spoke.

"Because it was the right thing to do." He suddenly realized that no matter how many times he professed his love for her last night, she never returned the words. This realization hurt him more than it logically should have. He hardly knew Lina. He made love to her once. Well, several times actually. But they spent only one night together. Why would he want her to love him. Why did he _need _her to love him at that moment. The angst was evident in both of their eyes.

_~Does he think I wanted to leave? I did what he wanted!~ _She thought angrily to herself. "It was just a one-night-stand after all." She murmered quietly, not being able to meet his gaze. Her eyes were wet with unshed tears, but she didn't want her to see that she was weak. He would move on with his life, onto other women, other beautiful conquests, and she would move on with hers. Her face felt hot. She wanted to leave now.

Adrian's throat tightened as he stared, incomprehensibly. "A one-night stand?" He blinked. "Is that how little you think of me?" He hated her as she said this. He hated her almost as much as he loved her. His muscled tightened with the urge to break something. His desk, his wall. He was boiling with rage and was positive that at any moment, his body would explode as if Dr. Manhattan had destroyed him.

"How little I think of you? That's the only logical possibility." She said matter-of-factly. He seethed but calmed his face ever so slightly. He did not want her to see how much she was mangling his heart.

"Explain."

"You saw me walk into your office, you decided you wanted to fuck me. And you did. You said a whole bunch of flowery things to make me succumb to you, and they worked. I mean, you got what you wanted, and I left. _Why_ are you so angry! You got everything you wanted!"

"Yes, I _did_ get everything I wanted. _That night!_ But I want you _every_ night!" Lina's heart fluttered. "I told you that you belong to me now! I told you that you were going to be my wife! What part of that did you not _hear_!"

"Do you know how ridiculous you sound! You don't even know me!"

"I know you enough to say that you are mine." He was holding her by her forarms now. He was trying desperately to make her understand that their lives were about to change forever. Their lives were intertwined now like the chaotic music notes of a symphony orchestra.

"But… but that doesn't make sense. I don't understand how that could possibly be. Love doesn't work that way Adrian." He felt a shiver go up his spine when she said his name for the first time. His grip on her arms tightened, but not to hurt her. To bring her closer to his body. He had ignored the burn that began to build inside of him from the moment he saw her in the elevator. But it was getting too much now. This argument wasn't going anywhere. She was not listening to him.

He stopped caring.

"You are mine Lina, and I will spend the rest of eternity trying to make you to love me. You are my prisoner now and I will never let you go." And with that he held her face in his hands and kissed her gently. He wanted to savour this moment which, last night, he feared he would never get again. Angelina's breathing became ragged. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. He _really_ wanted her. She wasn't just a fuck. He really wanted her the way he said he did. Her head was reeling at the feel of his lips on hers, at the scent of his delicious breath, at the shudders his fingers were already inducing on her body. He pulled away so she could breathe for a second, but he didn't stop. His lips trailed down the side of her neck, biting down softly, then licking and kissing to sooth her. Her murmured, "I love you, I love you," Repeatedly as he felt her quiver beneath his touch. She felt his manhood on her belly. Even through their clothing, she could feel the heat emenating from him. She sighed in delight when his hands cupped her breasts, his mouth still assaulting her. His body was curved around hers with a subconscious need to protect her. _~I will never let you go.~ _He promised himself. He sucked in a sharp breath in surprise as he felt her hands touch him below. He gazed into her eyes and smiled wickedly as she blushed a bright red. She had not had the courage last night to undertake what she wished to do now. He could see she hesitated, though, not wanting to displease him, so he began to undress her anyway. _~Later,~ _he thought. _~I don't have the patience for her to learn on me. Right now I need to see her writhing and begging.~ _

He took her hand and led her to his sofas. He undressed her quickly; blouse, skirt, her bra and panties. He took a step back to awe at her femininity. His memory had not done her justice. She blushed under his intense gaze. She reached up to begin undressing him but his hands caught hers midair.

"No," he whispered with such intensity. "Not yet." He grabbed her by her waist and turned her to face the sofa. He gently got her on her knees and felt himself grow painfully hard at the sight before him. She was trembling. She was so pure and untainted. He felt like a monster every time he fucked her; every time he violated her body, but his greedy selfishness overrode the need to preserve her grace. And then his hands did something she did not expect. She tensed and screamed with pleasure. Her body pushed back onto his hand, wanting more, yet not being able to take what he was already giving her. He gently rubbed her where he knew no man had ever touched her before. His heart beat like a jackhammer and his breathing became laboured as he tried to fight the need to take her right then and there. But no. He wanted to give her a reason to stay. If she did not love him, he would make her an addict of his skilled love-making. And then she would surely stay.

She continued screaming, writhing and whimpering as his dexterous fingers took her to heights she could never imagine. He was standing directly behind her now, his hand reached her from the front, so he could press his manhood against her. Her body melted against his hard cock, while his fingers kept her sharp screams constant. He was kneeling on the sofa behind her now, his legs outside hers. Had he not been fully dressed still, he would have been inside of her. His hot lips grazed her back, drawing shudders from the girl beneath him.

To his pleasant shock, she took the free hand he was resting on her thigh and guided it to her breast. He felt her nipple and caught his breath in shock. She was about to cum, he could feel her clenching around his fingers. Feeling that, coupled with the sounds she was making and the feel of her full breast under his hand. It all made his resolve melt. He needed to be inside her _now_.

He stood up and stripped himself before Lina could even see what he was doing. Her forehead was resting on the back of the sofa.

"Up Lina." He pulled her gently by the waist. She got up onto her feet and Adrian sat down on the sofa, taking her place. Lina knew how he wanted her today, so she didn't hesitate as she climbed onto his lap, her arms locking around his neck. He held her face with one hand and his crystal blue eyes gazed into her brown ones. His heart sang as gazed deeply into the eyes of the woman he would make his wife. He would love her. Cherish her. Provide for her. Be a husband to her. "You are my life now." Angelina closed her eyes, wishing more than anything the words she was hearing was the truth. She still couldn't believe that he had picked her. Adrian Veidt, Ozymandias, picked her to make a life with.

He put his hands on her hips and brought her down on him. He was throbbing with wait, and she could feel it. She felt herself take his cock in completely, and she clenched down on him, on purpose. His jaw clamped shut and his eyes rolled into the back of his head before his eyes shut tightly as well. She felt a tremor course through him and she smiled in wicked delight. She gained confidence as she unlocked on hand from behind his neck, and held the side of his face. She kissed him, slowly and tenderly, wanting to convey how much she wanted him. He his hands moved to her front, playing with her breasts, and she shivered. They rocked like that for a few minutes, kissing and fondling, before Lina became impatient. She rocked harder and faster, kissing him harder, his hands returning to her hips to help her move faster. He groaned into her mouth, sucking in huge gasps of breath between kisses, and she whimpered, losing all sense. There was nothing but the two of them at this moment. Their animal desire for one another. Adrian knew she only had a few seconds left in her before she came, so he thrust up into her hard, with so much strength he lifted her as her screams began. Oh, how he loved to hear her cum. Her face turned bright pink, she began rocking a mile a minute against his cock, and her nails dug into his skin, leaving red streaks across his neck and shoulders. Her sounds were deafening but he drank them up like a hummingbird drinking a flower's nectar. He felt his muscles tighten and he came soon after. He groaned loudly into her neck and hair, his hands had a death grip on her waist. Wave after wave of pleasure took her as she felt him spurt in her. This was the best feeling of all. Feeling him cum inside of her. The feeling made her bite her lip and sigh into his neck. She could hear his heart beating fast, as was hers. She smiled as she realized this was her life now. This man, this pleasure. Everything he did to her, she would make sure she received it every single day. He stroked her hair lovingly as their breathing returned to normal.

They were interrupted by a beep.

"Mr. Veidt?" Adrian leaned over to the side table next to the sofa and pressed a button as he spoke,

"Yes?"

"The associates for your 10 o'clock appointment have arrived. Shall I send them up, Sir?" Lina stiffened. She did not want to leave yet. She was in his arms, the most exotic, sensuous place in the whole world. She was in heaven not 5 minutes ago. She didn't want to return to Earth yet.

"Just a moment Alecia." He replied. He turned to face his love. Her eyes were pleading and sad. His heart swelled at her show of need. His eyes held unimaginable kindness and love in return. It filled him with a light. A kind of passionate energy that made him feel like he could take over the world. Which he already sort of had. But that was besides the point.

One hand brushed the bangs out of her eyes and the other held her face close to his. "Lina, I must attend to these people. I will see you in no more than 2 hours." She looked away. Two hours was too much. And what was she supposed to do anyway? Go out for lunch and come back? He bent forward, with her still cradled in his strong arms and reached for his jacket. He pulled a key from the pocket and held it in front of her.

"Take this, my love." He put the key in her hand. "My home is your home now." Angelina felt butterflies in her tummy. So, he _did_ mean it all. "Wait for me where I took you last night."

"Okay." She moved to get up, but he held her still.

"Angelina?" She rubbed her hand across his chest, loving the feel of his skin.

"Yes Adrian."

"Please don't leave while I'm gone." He stared into her eyes earnestly, and she had to remind herself how to breathe. She just shook her head. He sighed, satisfied. She got off of him, missing his heat immediately. He picked up the phone reciever this time and spoke to Alecia again, Lina guessed. She was getting dressed as he spoke into the phone quietly. Almost as if he was hiding something from her. Lina pursed her lips, pondering. She slipped on her shoes and ran her hands through her hair. Finally, she turned and her jaw dropped at the sight of him. He was already dressed.

~Fast enough to catch a bullet.~ she thought while imagining his superhero days. He looking pristine as ever with a tiny smile on his face. A response to her expression. If someone were to see him now, he looked nothing like a man who had just had an intense fuck.

He took her hand and led her over to his private elevator. He pulled her close by the waist and kissed her tenderly. Once, twice, three times.

"I love you. I'll see you in a few hours, darling." She walked into the tiny elevator, and slipped the key into the slot and disappeared from his sight. She felt a twinge of guilt for not returning the love he professed to her. But she knew him for about 24 hours. How could she?

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EccentrikPirate* This story is set just before Adrian destroys New York.

Thanks again for your kinds words guys.


	3. Caught & Sentenced

You guys. My boyfriend found the story.

: o

He saved the 2 chapters on his pc somewhere and tried to extort some pictures out of me by saying, "If you don't send me such and such pics in 10 minutes, I'm reading every line." (not nakey pictures. Just a really nice one he saw on msn. He wanted it, but I didn't like that one very much.)

So, I was on the phone with him last night, pleading with him to not read anything. He counted down the minutes through my screams of terror, until finally he started reading aloud. I hung up, curled up into a ball, and began rocking back and forth, talking myself into considering a noose instead of pills. I was mortified.

BUT, like the angel he is, he texted me not a minute later and said, "I can't read it." I asked, "Why?" And he said, "Because I know how badly I'm making you feel." (Or maybe he couldn't read it because it was too embarassing for him. Reading my cheesy fantasy..) (Yeah, actually, I think that's it.)

You see ladies. I have found THE perfect man. He loves me too much to violate my rights. Except in bed, teehee. (to be perfectly honest, I wouldn't know that. Because I haven't fucked him yet.) I LOVE YOU RYAN. But that is not why I am writing to you right now. I mean, yeah, I'm writing to brag a little bit, but I'm mainly here because I need ideas on how to continue this story without there being a chance of him reading it. The only solution I can come up with to NOT die of humiliation is to just start another account, write about another story, that he will never know a single detail about. So he can't search my shit up again. But then you guys won't know where…

And I'll lose my lovely Adrian Veidt. And then I'll cry. Because I wanted more sex with him. *sniffles*

PM me if you have any ideas. Or write your ideas in the review section.


	4. Chapter 4

**: o**

**Omigod! I know! Chapter 3!**

**I'll explain later! Just read**! :D

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Angelina was sprawled across the sofa, trying to watch the news, but she was far too excited to absorb any of the English. She sighed and looked at the clock in the living room for the hundreth time, willing time to go faster. She was positive the clock was moving backwards when she was not looking. According to the dials, Adrian was supposed to be back in less than a minute.

The personal elevator come to a stop. She bounded over to it and flung her arms around Adrian's neck as soon as the doors opened. He smiled and held her tightly. He knew the last two hours felt like an eternity to her as well. The doors closed with them still inside, but neither of them moved to block them. They were the only two people in the world at this moment. Their love for each other. Their future laid out before them. Angie had so many things to say to him before. Professions of love, apologies, all that cheesy drama, but she was at a loss. She couldn't remember any of it.

"I want you." She whispered into his throat, her hands locked like concrete around his neck. His arms tightened around her waist, though he was careful not to hurt her with his strength. He couldn't remember the last time he had embraced a non-superhero. His thoughts quickly flickered to a redhead, clad in a dark green silk gown, but he beat those thoughts into silence. He took one long breath of her hair. The jet black waves and curls were as soft as down, and so silky. He pressed his face into the mayhem that smelled like apples.

There was nothing that mattered more to him than his Queen.

To his angel's surprise, he picked her up and carried her over to his massive bed. He set her down gently and began undressing her like a doll, as well as himself. He pulled her skirt off, unbuttoned her blouse, and climbed on top of her. He was careful not to let any part of his body touch hers, yet still be close enough so she could feel the heat of skin. She shivered from his lack of touch, her body anticipating more of an assault than he was giving her.

He rested on his elbows, above her shoulders. After a few moments of feeling her ragged breath on his face, he allowed himself to kiss her tenderly. Her lips were pillow soft, pink, and he loved the way they molded against his. He caressed her lips so softly, and pulled back whenever she leaned up for a deeper kiss.

This teasing continued for a few minutes until she started to get agitated. She reached down and caressed his manhood. He let out a loud groan when her fingers played with him. He began rocking against her hands, and she started writhing because she wanted him to do that inside of her.

She wrapped her legs around his waist to pull him down on her. He kissed her again, hard this time, and then moved down to her breasts. He suckled and licked and bit her gently a few times, making her whimper with lust. His hands snuck between their bodies down to where she was wet and worked his magic on her. She screamed and writhed and shouted his name. He just smiled and went faster.

The phone next to his bed beeped and he slowed his assault for a moment. He wanted to answer the phone, he knew it had to be important as this was his personal line. He leaned into Lina's ear and whispered,

"Don't say a word." He picked up the phone and asked, "What is it Alecia?" His voice was very husky. Angelina was disoriented for a moment, she didn't even notice what he was doing. "Later Alecia. In a few minutes." He put the phone down and turned back to Lina, only to see she was staring at him, confused.

"You're leaving again?" Her tone sounded betrayed. His eyes turned hard with a wicked smile.

"No darling, we're both leaving. After I'm done with you." His hands parted her legs and he rammed himself into her, making her cry out a spine-tingling scream. To Angelina, this was the best part. The part when Adrian changed from a skilled and well-controlled Casanova, into a lusty beast, using her body wantonly. He thrust into her harder and harder, her screams and shouts like music to his ears. Her nails left red streaks all over his back but he took no notice. Lina watched his face as he made love to her. It was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen. His liquid gold hair was tousled, his face and chest were bright pink, and she watched his muscles clench as he tried to hold back his strength, so he wouldn't shatter her fragile body like glass. She loved the way he looked into her eyes. As if she was some treasure he had awaited for hundreds of years to selfishly possess. His eyes bore into hers and she was mesmerized. The grey-blue locked onto her pretty brown.

He stopped. He pulled himself out of her. His fingers slowly replaced his manhood. She moaned and sighed, but tried to push his hand away; this wasn't what she wanted. "Tell me you love me Lina," he said.

"I love you." He leaned into her neck and increased the pace of his fingers.

"How badly do you want me?" He kissed her neck and shoulder, and she shivered at how thick his voice was.

"Please Adrian." She continued to struggle pushing his hand away. She felt tears brewing. Adrian looked into her eyes and his heart skipped a beat when he saw that. He kissed her, breathing in her delicious breath. He spread her legs while kissing her and felt her breath hitch in excitement. He smiled at her enthusiasm, but her hands were getting in the way of his, annoying him. Her efforts were futile. He sighed and held her wrists above her head with ease.

He was close to cumming, and his hands felt she was too. There was no need to draw this out longer. He fit himself inside of her legs and began slamming into her again. Her legs wrapped around his waist and her hands were still pinned above her head. Lina felt him throb in that special way before he came. She could feel him pulsating inside of her, and the raw feeling of it pushed her over the edge. She screamed aloud and his groans made her shudder violently. She moaned when wave after wave of pleasure overtook her, and almost cried when she felt him spurt inside of her. That feeling truly made her believe he belonged to her more than his words ever could.

Adrian collapsed onto her chest. Never had he felt so much love during sex. Never had the sight of a woman in pleasure bring him so much joy.

"What did Alecia say?" She asked, breathless. He smiled and rolled over, so that her body was curled around his chest. He held her tight, like a child holding a new pet kitten which was trying to bound away. Not that she was. She felt perfectly content locked in his iron grip.

"There is a dinner this evening that we will be attending together, as husband-and-wife-to-be." Lina snuggled closer against him in embarassment. This was all happening too fast. They met yesterday and already he was set on marrying her. Madman.

"Adrian, I.. Don't take this the wrong way, I'm flattered that you want to take me, but I already had dinner plans with my roommate." She was telling the truth. She wasn't rejecting his offer; she truly had other unbreakable plans.

"Jessica?"

"Yes." she answered, startled. How did he know her name?

"Can you not cancel and reschedule? This is a very important dinner Lina. I had my RSVP sent months ago." Lina bit her lip. She felt like a turd.

"Ok, well.. Maybe we can go to both dinners. I mean, I owe Jessica big. Last night she was wonderful to me, whe-"

"When you left me?"

".. yes." She looked into his eyes and saw for the first time how badly she had hurt him. He looked away, but his arms still held her prisoner. "I was positive that Jess wouldn't leave me alone until I told her your identity, but she gave me a break so I swore I would spend the next few days making it up to her. This dinner is the first step."

"Why didn't you tell her who I was?"

"I thought I was supposed to keep it a secret."

"Because you thought I just used you as a one-night-stand," he sighed and met her eyes again. "How could you think that of me?" His fingers ran through her hair.

"How could _you_ think that _I_ would assume that you were in love with me?" Lina giggled as she told him her Veidt's Fuck theory.

He blinked a few times and burst out laughing.

Lina laughed along and hid her face in his chest, shy and, again, sort of embarrassed.

"I have had my fair share of women Lina. I doubt they've formed a.. society.. as you put it. But you are nothing like the others. Nothing at all."

"No?" She asked quietly.

"Christ, if only you could understand. Even _I_ don't fully understand Lina. I don't understand why I need you like I do." Angelina blushed and looked away, her insecurities getting the best of her.

~_Even _he_ knows he can do better.~ _She thought to herself sadly. Adrian noticed her change in mood instantly and wondered what he had said. Lina quickly tried to change the subject.

"About that dinner…" She ignored the lump in her throat. "This dinner with Jessica is super important. It's her favourite restaurant, and it's my treat, which means I'm about to blow like half my paycheque on fancy breadsticks alone. Maybe we can go to your dinner right after that. Or maybe we can just stop by at yours for a little bit and then leave. Rich people always do that at fancy parties, right?" She raised her head from his chest to meet his eyes.

He was trying to hide a laugh.

"What?" She asked.

"Rich people always do that at fancy parties?" He quoted her.

"Of course. I may not be a multibillionaire like some people I know, but I _do_ watch TV. They step out of their Rolls Royce, covered in furs and jewels, and walk into a mansion. They then spend the next 40 minutes fake kissing their fake friends. All the while, there are acres of food around them, yet no one dares to eat, like they'll get the plague if they touch a crouton. I mean, God forbid someone should see them eating."

Adrian was grinning by the end of her tirade.

"Obviously you haven't been to any of my parties."

"No one invited me." She said as she brushed his golden hair to the side.

"Well you're definitely going to be there for the next one."

"Oh really?" She asked. She straddled him on her knees and stretched languidly across his body with a moan. "I'll have to check my calendar. If my schedule's not too packed, I'll have my people call your people." Adrian's lips grazed her nipples as she stretched over him.

"You had better be free that day Angelina Anderson." He looked into her eyes. "Because my next party will be in your honour."

"What?"

"Our engagement party."

….::::::….

Angelina stood inside of a walk-in-closet bigger than her room at home. It was filled with mouth-watering clothes, the kind that made a girl fall to her knees and weep. She couldn't touch the clothes, or the shoes, or the bags. She just stood there and let it sink in.

Adrian's arms slid around her waist as he kissed her neck.

"See anything you like, darling?" He buried his face in her hair and took a deep breath.

"What is all this?"

"Hm?" He hugged her tighter. Why was he talking to her? They could be doing something else. Sure, they had just had a steamy shower together, but still.

"This can't possibly be all for me."

"No. The collection that is being assembled for you is catered more towards your specific taste."

~How would he know my taste?~ Lina thought.

"This closet is for.." He trailed off, not quite sure how to explain without sounding like a douche. She turned her head to see his face when he paused.

"For who?"

"Before you Lina, there were others. By no means permanent. Only temporary distractions."

"They couldn't have been very temporary if you were buying them wardrobes more expensive than their houses."

"No Lina, you don't understand. I make a lot of appearances. Parties, dinners, conferences; all for business. I took those women to all my functions and so I had someone assemble a stockpile of fashion they could take their pick from, just for those events. Nothing here was ever bought specifically for anyone."

Lina couldn't help but frown to herself. She hated the idea of Adrian calling another girl his own.

"I don't want to wear any of these clothes."

"Why not?"

"Because your whores went through these. They tried them on, probably modeled them for you, and then you undressed them."

Adrian was silent. He couldn't deny that.

"I don't understand. They've all been washed Lina."

Angelina turned in his arms.

"Imagine if our roles were reversed. Imagine if I had a closet filled with suits and ties and belts, bought just for my past flames to wear and then undress in front of me. Would you wear a belt that you know I unbuckled off another man?"

"I would burn it. And then I would burn the closet."

"Exactly." She smiled and touched his nose, happy that he understood. "So I'll be getting something myself before we go." Any excuse to go shopping had her skipping with glee.

"From where?"

"I've been saving for a guiltless splurge for a few months now. I've been doing this since I was 15. I'd save about $500 or $1000, depending on how much I had worked that year, and would buy a designer something or other. A couple of years ago, I even pooled my money with a school fundraiser and built a school in Sierra Leone." She spoke excitedly as she buttoned up his shirt. Adrian realized that he loved learning about this girl. He wanted to know every obscure detail about her life. "Did you know it only costs $5000 to build a school there? It pays for the teachers' salary for 2 years, too, so the kids don't have to pay any tuition. It's incredible."

"Yes, you're talking about the Kids Can Free the Children campaign. My company supports the foundation."

"Really?" Lina grinned. "That's wicked. Anyway, sometimes I splurge selfishly, if an occasion calls for it. Like for example, this dinner that's coming up."

She walked into the bathroom.

"Where is it anyway?" She asked, working on her hair.

"Rome." Her head riveted towards the door.

"Where?"

"Rome." He appeared in the doorway. "Where is your passport?"

"I don't know. At home? Somewhere."

"You don't know where?"

"No. I've never used it before."

"What do you mean?" He froze in shock.

Lina blushed slightly. Her life had been so… unamazing. Adrian walked up close to her. "Do you mean to say that you have never travelled outside of the States?"

"Um.. never out of New York state actually." She laughed a nervous laugh. She didn't like this conversation.

"Why not?"

"I don't know. My family never had the money I guess." She went back to combing her hair, not meeting his eyes. "My Dad raised me all by himself since I was 7. Single-parent families have a hard time making ends meet, forget vacations." She smiled as she continued on, trying to lighten the conversation. "But I _did_ plan fantasy vacations all the time when I was little, just for the fun of it. I would budget the cost of the cheapest flight, get quotes for hotel stays and car rentals. I'd even research which tourist spots to visit while I was there." She frowned to herself. "I had a lot of free time on my hands."

She wasn't looking at him but she could see from her peripheral vision that he was staring at her.

~Why did we have to start talking about this? How did this fucking start?~ She combed her hair, trying to distract herself.

His arms encircled her waist as he turned her towards him. He gazed into her eyes.

"I can't believe no one has shown you the world."

"I don't want to talk about this anymore." She wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her head against his chest.

"Why not?" This girl had mood swings like no other.

"I don't want to highlight another way that you and I are different."

"Different?"

"You're an explorer, an adventurer, a conquerer of our world. And I'm… a college grad. We're from different worlds. And talking about the fact that I've never stepped foot on a plane only serves to remind me that you shouldn't be mine."

"Who do I belong to then?"

"I don't know. A high-society girl who grew up getting ponies as birthday presents. She also probably has a walk-in-closet bigger than that one," she pointed behind her. "and a fancy name like Michelle." He arched an eyebrow. "Okay, Michelle isn't very fancy but my imagination has been on overdrive the last 48 hours so it's running on empty right now. Gimme a break."

He pulled her chin up so she wouldn't be able to evade his gaze anymore.

~How can I make this girl understand…~ thought Adrian. His hand moved up to hold her face. He couldn't… not touch Lina. He leaned down to kiss her. He loved her so much. Her breathed in her breath and felt his heart hammer away in his chest.

She pulled back for a moment.

"I love you."

Lina wasn't sure who said it; her or him. Her heartbeat was loud in her ears.

"Lina, we need to go. Our plane is waiting for us. If you're going to find something new to wear, we should get going."

"Oh yeah." She took a deep breath. She looked longingly into his grey-blue eyes. How did he manage to make her lose all sense of space and time like that?

"Come Lina." He held her hand, picked up her bag, and walked her out. There was a black Range Rover waiting outside of the building and Adrian helped Lina step into it.

"Good evening Mr. Veidt." He nodded politely at Lina. "Miss." Lina smiled back.

"Evening Neil."

"Where to Sir?" Adrian turned to Lina.

"Lina?" She smiled and opened her purse in Adrian's lap. She bit her lip as she dove into her bag and Adrian couldn't look away as he watched her mouth. Without knowing, his body turned slightly towards her; leaning over her, almost in a protective crouch. Every move she made brought out basic animal instincts in him that he had taught himself to repress for so many years. The science of love was fascinating. He promised himself to read up about it later, now that he finally felt glorious love. It was so great a feeling, he wished he could teach the world about it. Like a TV show. Or an entire channel, devoted entirely to love. No, the science of love. Or just science in general, and once in a while it could do a show about love. What would he call it? A channel to help people discover the world. The Discovery Channel.

She found it! Lina grinned as she held her card up. "Vera Wang?" Adrian smiled and shook his head.

"Chanel, Neil. Thank you." Lina thought for a moment. She couldn't really afford it; Chanel was out of her budget.

~I guess I can move some stuff around. This must be a nice dinner if he needs me to wear Chanel.~

As she was doing the numbers in her head, Adrian made a phone call. She zoned out so she didn't absorb anything he had said.

A few minutes later they were outside of the New York Chanel Boutique. But… it was deserted.

"Is it closed?" She held up her wrist to check the time, and then remembered she left it on Adrian's nightstand, next to the bed where they… She shook her head to keep her mind from wandering into dark, lusty places. For now. She'd be back there soon. "What time is it?"

"Almost 7. We'd better hurry." He stepped out of the truck with his natural grace and walked around to open Lina's door. He held her hand and reached in for her bag.

They reached the boutique with the pretty lights and scantily clad mannequins. A pretty attendant unlocked the door from the inside and stared in awe at Adrian. Lina almost forgot he was a sex symbol.

"Welcome Mr. Veidt. Miss." She nodded to both of them. How.. unNew Yorkish. A burly man in a black suit turned the corner towards them and nodded at Adrian.

"The perimeter has been secured. We have men holding down the area and have gotten the all clear from the NYPD." Adrian nodded and said,

"Thank you." He turned to Lina, "Where shall we begin?" Lina's mouth was hanging open.

"Huh?"

"Your dress." Lina stared at him stupidly, trying to absorb the fact that the entire city block had been evacuated just because she wanted to buy a dress. Adrian was worried for a moment. What was wrong with her? He dismissed the store attendant and the head security guard, thinking that maybe she was uncomfortable with the attention. It was just them now.

"Lina, what's the matter?" His hand cupped the side of her face.

"You shut down the entire store just so I could by a dress?"

"Yes. For security."

"You always do this when you go shopping?"

"I rarely shop retail. I have my clothes tailored or flown in."

"Why didn't you tell me? I could have hailed a cab and come here myself. And avoided all this hassle." She turned to look behind her, through the front windows to the outside. The streets were baron, too. It was scary to see empty streets in this city. It just wasn't normal. She pictured a scene from the movie _Armageddon_ when Earth got word that the world was about to end…

"Have you lost your mind?" She whirled around to him.

"What?" Was he reading her mind?

"Do you think for a second that I would even consider letting you out of my sight? Or atleast the sight of my bodyguards?"

"I went home last night, didn't I?" His jaw clenched.

"Had I known that you would leave me, I would have tied you to the bed." He growled.

Her spine tingled.

~No, not now. _Not now_.~ She pleaded with her body.

Adrian saw the tremor and he closed his eyes. He willed himself not to succumb to what his love's body was begging for. Not yet. He needed to be at this dinner. They were all expecting to see his future-wife. He much preferred her naked and trembling under his body rather than dressed up for others to admire, but he was not one to break obligations willy nilly.

"What kind of dress did you have in mind?" He said, opening his eyes, pretending his body wasn't on fire.

Lina was fully aware that the arm around her waist had pulled her chest flush against his. He didn't seem to notice.

She took a deep breath and licked her dry lips.

"Um.." she half sighed. She looked around for a moment until her eyes hit a mannequin a few metres away. The clay woman was dressed in a gorgeous white and blue silk gown, off the shoulder on one end with just a hint of a train. She pictured herself in it with her raven hair done up in a messy bun slash twist thing she invented one night.

Then she looked to the left of it and saw a black and red cocktail dress with extremely intricate beading. The waves of the skirt were stunning. Like a curtain, the skirt probably swung daintily when moved. The top had a scoop neck and little capped sleeves.

She looked back and forth between the two dresses. And then her eyes fell upon a purple number…

She moved to take a step towards them, like a mosquito blindly following the glow of a bulb, but she remembered Adrian had a death grip on her. He had been staring at her the whole time.

"You lick your lips a lot."

"I do that when I'm excited. Comes with breathing heavy."

"You weren't doing that last night."

"Cause' last night I was licking something else."

His eyes flamed and he looked mad at her for a second, then he remembered that it wasn't her fault. She was a temptress and was oblivious to her own charms. She wasn't turning him on on purpose. Or so he thought. She licked her lips again and he realized she knew exactly what she was doing. He released his grip and walked over to some corner of the store, pretending to occupy himself with something other than her.

She took a deep breath and walked over to the dresses she was admiring.

….::::::….

Lina had narrowed it down to the last two dresses; the first and second she had laid her eyes on. The third one in purple was far too expensive. Like, comically so.

By this time Adrian had wandered back to her after browsing for 20 minutes in an effort to distract himself from what his body was crying out for.

She had tried on each dress twice but couldn't make up her mind. She turned to Adrian.

"Which one do you like better?" He was leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets. Lina's breath caught in her throat when she saw him like that. He was so… dashing. As cheesy as it sounded, he was the epitome of old-world charm.

"Both of them look lovely on you. But what about the purple one you had on a few minutes ago? Why did you rule out that one?"

"I asked the attendant how much it was… and there's no way in hell I'm gonna blow three rents worth of savings on one dress." She ran her fingers over the material of the purple dress. "It was my first choice, too."

Adrian smiled and shook his head. He did that a lot. Lina found it irritating. She felt like she was a pet who chewed up a shoe, and the Adrian was the owner who couldn't get over how adorable she was, so he just shook his head. Damn annoying.

"You know, maybe there's a sale coming up soon that the purple one might be in. I should ask her, shouldn't I? Sometimes if you ask, they give you the sale price ahead of time."

"Lina, why don't you change into your clothes." Adrian was smiling, waving at the attendant to come back.

"What? Why?"

"Because we're running out of time."

"Bu-"

"You can decide on the airplane which one you'd like to wear."

"How?" He walked up to her and kissed her breathless. He was smiling awefully wide and she couldn't understand why for the life of her.

"Just go."

….::::::….

Lina's arms were crossed as she stared out the window of the car fuming, the streets outside passing in a blur. She was so angry, she sat as far away from him as she could in the Range Rover.

~The _nerve_ of him.~ She thought to herself. She looked over at him and glared. He was no better. His hand held up his head by the window. He was equally angry. He felt her eyes on him and glared back.

Apparantly when Adrian was smiling and shaking his head, he was doing that because he thought it was funny that Lina thought she'd pay for the dresses. Yes, dress_es_. With an _-es_ at the end.

He bought all three.

"How could you possibly think that I'd let you spend half your salary on a dress for a dinner that _I_ invited you to?"

"Half my salary? Don't insult me."

"You know what I mean. Don't be ludicrous Lina."

"_I'm_ ludicrous?"

"Yes, you are. You know, as odd as this may seem to you, most women are happy when their men buy them things. Not like you, all fussy and moody."

"Yeah well I'm not like most girls." Adrian was silent. She was right. She was one-of-a-kind. "Couples buy things for each other. That's a part of a relationship. I get that. But this is going too far Adrian."

"How did I go too far?"

"It's fucking Chanel! And not just one! _Three!_" She was almost shouting now. She clamped her jaw shut and breathed in and out slowly to calm herself. She had a temper, she acknowledged that, and she was humble enough to know when she was losing control of it. She was angry because she felt like a cheap trick. Well… an expensive trick, considering the label, but still. A trick all the same.

"What the fuck is wrong with that?"

"I could have managed to buy the dress myself. I'm not like one of your whores. Sex for a closet's-worth of designer duds. I can take care of myself Adrian." Adrian was looking out of the window now.

"You are going to be taken care of as long as I am alive." He met her angry gaze. "Get used to it."

….::::::….

She watched the 3 dresses get rolled into the private aircraft. Lina bit her lip. She would be lying if she said she wasn't secretly estatic that she was the proud owner of three Chanel numbers. But she was still irked that he thought all along that he would pay for them and not her. She would have insisted on a much less expensive designer if she had known beforehand. So what if he was a multi-billionaire? It was still a lot of money.

Adrian walked past Lina, into the airplane. The fact that he didn't wait for her or hold her hand hurt her more than it logically should.

~He's so angry with me.~ She thought sadly.

The airplane had finished warming up, so the flight attendant walked up to her and ushered her into the plane. It was a tiny aircraft. She imagined it belonged to Adrian, so it needn't hold too many people. Enough for the two of them and the crew.

She saw where Adrian was sitting. He was reading the paper.

She wanted him to care. She wanted him to look for her, to want to be close to her. She didn't like the way Adrian was when he was angry with her. She took a seat next to him and caught a glimpse of what he was reading. Something about the Doomsday Clock.

Hearing about it always depressed her. She sighed. She didn't want to think about it right now.

Adrian turned to her when she sighed. He was still cross with her, but his curiosity got the best of him.

"What now?" She met his eyes, shocked that he would talk to her like that. She looked away. "Well?"

"It's nothing. Just the paper. What you're reading."

"What about it?"

"It's despressing, isn't it?"

"Yes, I suppose it is."

"Our world is ending." She said with a low voice. He met her eyes and was shocked at the sadness there. It made his heart ache. "All of our history, our culture, all the wars we ever fought for the last thousands of years… all for nothing. People killed themselves studying for exams, slaved away at their jobs for the next promotion. It seems almost silly now that there's an end in sight. Doesn't it? I mean, what have we all been working for?"

Adrian listened intently to Lina. He understood her sadness, except his sadness was slightly different. His pain wasn't for the billions who would die. His pain was for just one woman who would die. If there was a nuclear war, there would be no more Lina. She would vanish, vaporize, no longer be his Heaven on Earth. He would be dead too, of course, but he could not let Lina be affected by any of the worlds turmoils. He wanted to gather her into his heart and keep her there forever. Safe and sound. She was his life.

"No harm will come to you Lina. I will protect you." He grasped her face in his hands when he said this and kissed her hard. Simply imagining Lina dead caused him tremendous pain, and he kissed her to prove to himself that she was still here, alive and breathing.

"What do you mean? If there's a nuclear war, nothing can exist."

"There will not be a nuclear war."

"You know this?"

"I give you my word. No one is going to take you away from me." She wanted to press on and ask him how he could be so sure when all of our brightest and best scientists were practically holding up 'I don't wanna die a virgin! Free fuck!' signs. But she had irritated him enough today. She would leave him alone. He put the newspaper away and held her hand as the plane took off.

"Done with the paper?"

"No. I don't want to read it in front of you. I never want to see that crease between your brow again. I never want you to worry. I'll always protect you."

Lina was silent for a moment. Again, she tried to absorb the extraordinary situation she was in. Just 48 hours ago she was living a normal life. Wake-up in the morning, go to work, come home, eat, watch tv, go out with Jess maybe, shower, go to sleep. Here she was now. A non-virgin… finally…, in a private plane, belonging to Adrian Veidt, who she might be marrying in the near future, flying to Rome to meet… Who was she meeting again?

"So who are we meeting in Rome?" ~The Pope?~

"The Watchmen."

….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….

I'm sorry for the super long wait. I finally made my boyfriend VOW that he will never go on fan again. Ever. PLUS he will never search my pc for my stories. So the story goes on! Yayy! I missed Adrian.

The very last sentence of this chapter gives me a chance to plug another character into this love story. If you have a thing for Rorschach or John or whoever, let me know. (I don't do slash, so I can't write a threesome sex scene with Adrian, Lina, and like, Dan. But if you guys wanna stir up some drama and turn this into a love triangle, let the other readers and myself know your opinion in the review section. Or if you don't want anyone else in the mix, that's cool too.)

I love you guys so much, thanks for reviewing and sharing my fantasies with me. I read your reviews over and over again and they are all appreciated and memorized and printed and framed. Well, not printed and framed. That's very expensive. But Ryan read your reviews too, and that's how I got him to promise to leave my story alone. Because you guys wanted it so bad.

Psst… AnnabelleLee13194... I'm a nerd too so there's an entire paragraph around the middle that's dedicated entirely to you, lol. Guess which one!


	5. Chapter 5

Lina twirled the skirt of the purple dress back and forth, loving the way Adrian eyed her. He was still upset with her for thinking that she'd ever pay for anything with him around, but it was more his ego that was bruised. He was known for his generosity, and her assumption of him made him feel cheap.

Her hands busied themselves with her hair as Adrian walked up to her. She turned to face him when Adrian fixed the shoulder of her dress. The strap had fallen. She had meant for it to. She had never teased a man this way before but she was loving the reactions she was getting from him. She normally shied away from the spotlight but his attention was sinfully intoxicating.

"You look stunning." He said softly. Lina blushed.

"You're talking to me again?" She looked away when he didn't answer. She knew she was in the wrong here. "I'm sorry for overreacting in the store." He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she spoke. "I shouldn't have knocked that vase over."

Adrian smiled softly. He had forgotten about that.

"It was an accident." He arched a brow. "Wasn't it?"

"Yes. I wasn't trying to be dramatic or anything. I hit it when I was trying to grab the dress back from you." She sighed. "Was it very expensive?"

"Why does the cost of everything concern you so much?"

"I'm not used to being taken care of that way. It doesn't feel right." She went back to pulling the strands of her hair in just the right way. She wanted to look perfect for Adrian. He deserved nothing less.

"How does my hair look?"

"Lovely."

Her gown was a silky lavender purple with a dark purple empire waist. It had two small straps and a corset, button-down back. There was a teeny, tiny train, only an inch long, and she looked supremely divine with her flowing hair haphazardly pinned up behind her. Her jewerelly consisted of delicate gold chandelier earrings by Penny Preville and a single gold chain dipping past her chest, over her dress. She much preferred her jewellery to be silver but Adrian loved gold. Lina guessed as much, with him being such an avid collector and scholar of Egyption history. She remembered at that moment that purple was his favourite colour, too. She smiled to herself. It all worked out nicely.

She took a moment to look him over. He was wearing a tuxedo, his hair was styled in that signiture Ozymandias look, and he had that dashing, crooked smile that made her knees turn into rubber.

They stood before each other for a moment, soaking in each others' beauty. He gazed at her as if she was the most beautiful sight he had ever beheld. His goddess, his angel, his Heaven on Earth, as he had called her before. Lina's eyes were wide, as she absorbed his radiance. He glowed with an extraordinary air and she felt like touching him would mar the light emenating from him.

The flight attendant appeared.

"Mr. and Mrs. Veidt, the Concord is landing. If you both would please take your seats and put on your seatbelts? Thank you."

Lina was embarrassed at her being referred to as Mrs. Veidt, but smiled and nodded at the flight attendant anyway. Adrian never looked away from Lina. He was concentrating on how this woman stumbled into his life and had changed the entire course of it. How could one person affect the future in such a tremendous way? He planned on asking Jon for his take on all this.

Lina took Adrian's hand and walked him to their seats. She blushed under his scrutiny and looked down at her hands as she tried to come up with something to talk about. The silence was deafening.

"So, I take it I'm forgiven?" She looked up and smiled at him. His heart skipped a beat.

"Lina…"

He was about to debute this loving, sensual woman to his friends tonight, as his wife-to-be. His eyes ran over her face. Her eyes, her delectible lips. The strands of hair encircling her face, and the caution with which she made eye contact with him. As if this were all a dream and she was afraid to wake up from it.

He felt something unfamiliar. He couldn't put his finger on it. The thought of the others seeing her this way… it made him feel… jealous.

This revelation startled him. Adrian had rarely felt jealousy throughout his long years. He was King of Kings, afterall. But he suddenly felt anxious looking at Lina. Like he was about to lose her. What if Jon saw her the way he did? What if Jon's love for Laurie was fading more than he was letting on? No woman on Earth could resist that man if he beckoned to her. Including Lina.

Or what if her tenderness opened Rorschach's locked gates? The sociopath's feelings were never short of unpredictable. Dan was also a good-natured man, and the Comedian was sexually-aggressive. Which one would be the most attractive to Lina? Who should he fear most?

Lina smoothed his stress lines with her finger.

"I never want to see a crease in your brow. I'll always protect you." Said Lina, quoting Adrian's exact words from before. She smiled but Adrian couldn't. He took hold of her hand and planted a tender kiss, memorizing the feeling of her skin; the taste, the softness.

His anxiety calmed slightly as he looked into Lina's deep brown eyes. She was forever his. What was he so worried about?

….::::::….

The limosine door opened for Adrian, allowing him to step out and extend a hand to Lina. He thanked the valet and guided Lina by the small of her back to the doors of the magnificent castle.

Angelina awed at the sights around her in wonderment. The driveway was circular and paved like an old-world mansion, while the castle before her was intricately detailed. She wondered how many centuries this structure had seen. The fact that she was outside of New York had not sunk in, much less the other side of the world. Adrian smiled to himself at the way she was frantically looking left and right, in sheer wonder.

He was ready to show her his world.

"Adrian!" called Dan. He walked over, arms wide open, ready to embrace an old friend. His friendly grin comforted Lina. He looked so normal; so average, like her. She didn't let Adrian see her anxiety about this dinner, because that would only serve to make him fawn over her even more in an effort to comfort her. But it would only make her more anxious. Dan, though, and his gregarious air dispelled some of her worries.

After letting Adrian out of the bear hug, he turned to Lina and smoothed the front of his tuxedo. Lina extended her hand for a shake, but he turned it and kissed it like a true gentleman.

"Dan, this is my darling fiance, Angelina Anderson." Lina blushed in embarassment at the introduction. "Lina, this is Dan. A very old friend of mine. You might know him as the Nite Owl." Lina's eyes opened wide.

"Oh! Hi. It's very nice to meet you."

"The pleasure's all mine. So, you're the mysterious woman who captured Adrian's heart so suddenly." He flashed his adorable grin at Adrian, while Adrian's arm encircled her wasit. Lina was so flustered by the attention, though she hid it well. She wanted to pick up her dress and run away in a dramatic fashion, with her dress billowing behind her. She smiled to herself thinking how cool that would be. But the aftermath would land her in more embarrassment than she was in. She briefly imagined how Adrian would react to that. ~Um Lina... when we were about to sit down for dinner, why did you run away like a heroine in an old-world film?~ And then she'd just stare him blankly, followed by the same dramatic sprinting away.

Adrian and Dan stared at her oddly while she smiled at her silly thoughts. A male voice drifted into her reverie from behind.

"Three guesses to anyone who knows what she's thinking about." The Comedian walked into her sight. He took a puff of his cigar and leaned in. "But I only need one." He winked. Adrian glared at the fact that he was coming on to his fiance, but before he could say anything, the other Watchmen appeared.

"Hello Adrian." Laurie smiled and stepped forward for a hug. Jon extended his arm for a handshake, only because they saw each other every other day for their energy research. Adrian was a very close friend of Jon's. He was one of Jon's last remaining bonds to Earth; Laurie being his primary. Rorschach also extended his hand, but he was still wearing his mask. Lina thought it odd that everybody bared their identity at this gathering, but Rorschach still hid his. She wondered if it was because she was there. Maybe he didn't trust her.

She suddenly felt very self-conscious. She wondered how many other people here were suspicious of her. Just a few days after meeting Adrian, Lina already had him down on one knee? It didn't help that he was a multi-billionaire either. They probably thought she was a gold-digger. As they should. Lina knew deep down this marriage business was silly and not thought through.

"Lina, these are the remaining Watchmen. Lauri, whom you may know as Silk Spectre II, Jon, whom the media calls Dr. Manhattan, and Rorschach."

"Hello, Lina. How nice to meet you." Laurie held both of Lina's hands as she spoke and leaned in to kiss her cheek. She seemed genuinely kind; her happiness for Adrian finding his one true love was evident. Earlier, Lina had fears that she may feel jealous with the ridiculously gorgeous Silk Spectre II talking to Adrian like old friends. But she saw no harm in Laurie's bright blue eyes. Lina felt her heart swell with happiness at Lauri's acceptance.

Jon extended his arm as normal human customs demand and kissed her hand the way Dan did.

"Adrian has told me much about you Lina. I am glad to finally meet you."

He wasn't stiff, or rude, but rather distracted. His eyes had no pupils so she couldn't tell if his eyes were laser focused on her or if he was staring off into the distance. Lina felt unnerved by him, but smiled graciously anyway and returned his words.

Rorschach just nodded politely.

She watched Rorschach's mask. The shapes changed and shifted and she wondered if they depicted his moods, or if it was random.

The seven of them were immediately ushered into the dining room. Lina's natural place was by Adrian's side. The Comedian sat next to her, while Dan, Laurie, and Jon sat right across from them. Rorschach sat on one end of the large table. He stayed quiet, while Lauri and Dan made conversation about the delicious aromas.

Adrian was wary of the man sitting next to Lina. He hated the Comedian with a passion. Not only was he vulgar in terms of obscene language and his treatment of women, but he was cocky about it, too. He didn't want a Edward near his woman. He pictured Edward accidently brushing her arm, or inadvertently catching her delicious scent, and the thought made his gut clench.

They had all been seated, though. There was nothing he could do without coming off as blatantly rude.

"So, Lina, where exactly did you and Adrian meet?" Laurie asked, smiling broadly at the beautiful couple. Adrian glanced at Lina. He wanted her to answer for them.

"It was rather sudden, actually. I was in a meeting with my employer and Adrian, and…" she paused, and looked at Adrian for help. Adrian opened his mouth to speak, but Edward beat him to it.

"And he realized how long it had been since he had last bedded a woman." He barked out with a loud laugh. Adrian glared over Lina's head. An awkward silence fell over the table and Dan scrambled to come with something to say. Lina was grinning at the absurd truth he had just spoken.

"That's one way to put it, I suppose. How did you guess? I suppose I'm not the first Adrian's been suddenly engaged to?" She teased as she gently touched Adrian's hand. She hadn't met his eyes so she didn't realize he was furious at this conversation.

"No, to my knowledge he's never been engaged before. But it's gotten pretty close a couple of times. Like that last one Ozy…" He turned a little to him. "What was the last one's name? Bree? Bree-Anne?"

Lina finally saw Adrian's expression and it gave her a physical jolt. He looked calm, but his jaw was taught, he sat up straight, and his fists were clenched. Lina thought he was gonna hit the Comedian.

Lina thought for a moment. Was there truth in the Comedian's words? Had Adrian fallen so abruptly for another woman before?

The thought sent a chill down her spine.

But she didn't want to ruin the dinner that was prepared for them, so she quickly changed the topic.

"So why here? Why Rome?" She looked at each of the Watchmen. "Aren't all of you American?" Dan cleared his throat.

"Uh.. Yes this home belongs to one of Adrian's greatest mentors." His gaze drifted across the room. "Dimitrius Giordano… is not here at the moment. Though he should be with us shortly. Before you and Adrian had arrived, Dimitrius had welcomed us into his home. He was called away shortly before we met."

Lauri smiled and winked at Lina as the waiter's began bringing in the food. Lina sucked in a deep breath, her head swimming in a bath of delicious aromas. It was near midnight right now. She remembered with a start that she had not eaten since lunch yesterday. She had missed… she counted in her head… 4 meals! Her mind was gripped in a ferocious hunger that she hadn't noticed before, what with all the sex and pillow talk and dress shopping. Dress shopping was a kind of sex, too.

Adrian had noticed Lina's body tense when the food arrived. He also realized that he had not fed her anything since he held her captive in his home this morning. He regretted admitting to himself that he had been selfish with her. He used her for his own pleasure but had not fed and nourished the body that meant so much to him. Guilt gnawed him from the inside as he watched her eyes drown in lust as the plate was set before her.

Everybody else was absorbed in their own food and chit chat to notice, but Adrian noticed everything about her. The way she breathed in the scent of the dish before she picked up her fork. The way she tried a bite of every different food on her plate before she really began eating. The way she neatly tapped her filled fork against the plate before she brought it to her mouth.

Adrian halted his thoughts. He was scaring himself.

He was about to focus on his own dish but something else caught his eye. The fact that Eddie was watching her the way Adrian did, moments before. Except he wasn`t watching the way she ate. He had the look of a man devouring a women in his mind.

"So Adrian. This energy solution that you and Jon have been working on, is it near completion?"

Adrian glanced at Jon, so Jon answered.

"We believe we have reached a critical point in our research. Our theory on dark matter has been proven correct so far, but only theoretically. We have not field tested any of our work."

Everybody on the table focused on this grave matter. Edward was peeking glances at Adrian. Adrian noticed, of course, and he knew exactly why.

"When will you begin field testing?" Rorschach asked. Lina glanced at the quiet man. He had not made his presence at this gathering very clear. This was the first time she had heard him talk. Adrian finally spoke.

"We haven't located an area on Earth where we could test our work. Any mistake on our part could cause massive earthquakes; ripples in the air that would flatten buildings hundreds of miles around the epicenter. Our work is still in the theory stages, afterall."

"So how will you ever test it?" Lina asked, her curiosity piqued. Is this what Adrian was talking about when he said he wouldn't let a WWIII happen?

"I have located a suitable area on Mars," answered Jon robotically.

"Mars?" Laurie gasped. The shock was evident on her beautiful features. Jon turned to look at her. They stared at each other for a moment, as if they were having a very intimate conversation, but in their minds. Lina asked herself if Jon actually had that power. She filed that question away in her head for a later date.

"Mars is the only suitable place to test our work." Jon said to Laurie, who looked hurt and betrayed for some reason. Jon turned to Lina. "If we are correct, the benefits to be reaped from this discovery will be overwhelming."

"Not only would the Cold War end," Adrian continued, speaking especially to Edward, "but the oil companies running our world would fall overnight. Energy would be completely free and accessible to anyone. Also, this phenomenon that my scientists are uncovering, called global warming, would halt. The effects of this work will completely change our world."

"How long have you been working on this project?" Asked Lina.

"Four years now. The project is near completion." Answered Adrian.

"I haven't heard about this on the news. Are you and Jon doing this alone? Isn't the government helping you?"

"The government doesn't want anything to do with this because it's socialist." Edward said, tearing a piece of bread.

"What's socialist? No war?" Lina teased for a moment. It sounded like a joke but she felt stung by his comment. It turned the world's salvation into a political thing. Didn't Edward realize that without this project, WWIII would happen, and she would lose her Adrian? Didn't he realize that?

She calmed herself. Of course he didn't realize that. Edward wasn't the one in love with Adrian.

"Free energy means some of our biggest corporations, like Adrian said, would go bankrupt. If everyone gets free energy, who needs oil? Free energy goes against everything our country was built on. This is a capitalist nation. Not a commie nation."

Lina's eyes were wide as she stared at Edward.

"But there would be no war. WWIII will be the first world war in history faught entirely with nuclear weapons. Which means even the 'winning' side will lose because the world will become uninhabitable and everyone will die from nuclear radiation. Even the countries who have nothing to do with the tension between America and Russia will face the consequences of nuclear fallout. You would choose Armageddon over… what? Political principles?"

Eddie eyed Lina. He was expecting her to be a firecracker in bed, that's all. But she was intelligent, too. Very intelligent.

Silence fell around the table. Lina's cheeks burned and looked around. Everyone was staring at her. At first she wondered what she had said, and then figured out that they probably weren't expecting more than a few coherent words to come out of her mouth. They weren't expecting her to be anything more than pretty hair and manicured nails. She was vaguely insulted.

Adrian loved this woman now more than ever. He was amazed at how articulate she was, how much knowledge she had. He wasn't expecting her to be thick, but the passion with which she spoke to about this issue, it renewed his sense of assuredness that he was binding himself to the right woman.

He noticed her cheeks change colour and his arms flexed. His natural reaction was to pull her into a deep kiss whenever she blushed and have his way with her, but they were with company.

"Never compromise. Even in the face of Armageddon." Rorschach said. "While I don't agree with the Comedian's allegiance to the fat cats, I admire that his loyalty doesn't waver in the face of annhilation." Laurie was becoming more agitated with every word

"But what if annhilation could be prevented? If free energy could end the Cold War, the cost of a few energy companies collapsing would be a small price to pay." Laurie said.

"A small price? Do you know how many trillians of dollars would disappear along with those companies? Do you realize that the United States of America stands on those energy giants? America would go bankrupt, doll." Eddie mocked. "Small price."

"But wait-" Lina took a second to gather her thoughts. She looked at Rorschach and took another second to weigh the risk of what she was about to say. "If Adrian and Jon discover a way to end the Cold War, but the government or oil companies tried to keep it quiet and allowed the nuclear war to happen… wouldn't that be murder?"

Everyone around the table contemplated the word. Adrian and Jon shot each other a look. They knew where she was going with this. Adrian glowed with silent pride.

"America may fall, but the world is much bigger than just America. I mean, if we _let_ the nuclear war happen after Adrian and Jon discover free energy, won't the death of all citizens of all the countries _not_ involved in the Cold War, like ones in Africa, South America, Europe… be flat out murder?"

Eddie was smirking. She looked at Rorschach again.

Adrian got the same feeling he got when they were in the plane. Rorschach was staring at Lina too much, and Lina was giving him far too much importance in this conversation. Her fingers were trying to touch fire.

They continued to stare. Lina was waiting for a rebuttal, but Rorschach was cornered.

"Where did you find this girl, Adrian?" A booming voice came from the back of the room. Everyone turned and Adrian got up immediately. He walked over to his aged friend and mentor, Dimitrius Giordano, and embraced him with a heartfelt hug. Lina stood up from her chair, as well.

"Dimitri, please meet my fiance, Angelina. Lina, this man is a father to me. He took me in after I was orphaned. He educated me, showed me the reins of the business world. He even encouraged me to become Ozymandias. I would not be where I am today had it not been for this man." Adrian leaned in for another hug, but Dimitrius pushed him out of the way and moved closer to Lina. Lina grinned.

"This is as close as it gets to meeting the in-laws, isn't it?"

"I suppose it is." He had a thick Italian accent. "Adrian called me the night you disappeared. The worry I heard in his voice was evidence enough for me that he had found the woman our family has been waiting for." He touched her face. "If only my wife was here to see you." Lina hugged him tightly. He reminded her of her own Dad.

"It's really a pleasure to meet you Sir."

"Sir nothing. Call me Dimitrius." The food on the dinner table called to him. He took Lina's hand and slowly walked over to everyone. Adrian followed.

"Angelina," Lina noted her full name sounded so pretty when he said it, "your logic is sound. You understand the long-term consquences of this issue more than most other's I've spoken to about the Cold War. Pray tell how you know so much?" Lina shied away a little bit again. Why'd he have to focus on her just as she was getting comfortable?

"I watch a lot of TV." Dimitrius burst out in laughter. Laurie was giggling, too.

"Remember, Dimitri, that Adrian and Lina have just met. He'll start teaching her about science, like Jon teaches me, after they get tired of starting at each other with those googly eyes." Dan but in.

"Googly eyes. Adrian was the last person I thought I'd ever hear that phrase for." He wiped his chin with the napkin. "But Angie's done the impossible." He gestured to Adrian with a broad smile. "Look, he hasn't stopped smiling since he got here."

Adrian shook his head, trying to hide his grin, and the table laughed.

….::::::….

Lina's hands tangled themselves in Adrian's shirt. She undressed him haphazardly and ran her hands over his bare chest, over his arms, and shivered when he kissed her neck and shoulders. Her hands dove for his belt but he caught them midair and pulled her over to the bed.

He laid her down on the side of the bed and crawled inbetween her legs. He attacked her mouth as his hands pulled her dress up. Lina was out of breath but loved how aggressive he was being.

He finished undressing himself with that grace of his, and stood inbetween her legs. She rubbed her legs against his waist, loving the feel of skin against skin.

"I love you Adrian." She gasped in anticipation. He just glared at her, before he rammed himself hard into her. She shrieked in surprise at his roughness, but he leaned over to kiss her once and whisper, "Shh." He stayed hovering over her body while he continued ramming himself into her. She bit her lip to keep from shouting. Adrian gazed at her breasts like a starving man but knew he couldn't pull her dress down and touch them. She wouldn't be able to keep from screaming then.

Lina saw Adrian licking his lips and knew what he wanted. But she couldn't. She was drowning in pleasure as it was, she couldn't take the sensation his hands would cause. But she wanted to give him everything. She wanted him to have all of her.

She took a moment to steady her resolve, to make sure she wouldn't scream, and she pulled off the straps of her dress and exposed her breasts. She heard a low moan come from deep in his throat and he pounded her faster. She knew Adrian loved the way her breasts bounced, so she wickedly guided one of his hands to her chest. Adrian eyed Lina wearily as he violated her, to make sure she wouldn't shriek again but Lina bit her lip so hard that she was afraid she'd break skin.

He loved her so much for doing this for him, for caring so much about his pleasure. He fondled her, leaned down to kiss her and lick her breasts.

Lina couldn't take much more. She was close. Her hands gripped the bed sheets to brace herself and wished Adrian's body was closer to hers. Just then Adrian picked her up off the bed so that she was straddling him.

He carried her to the wall and rested her back against it before he pounded into her wildly, kissing her to ensure this new pleasure wouldn't cause her to falter.

Lina's eyes were closed but she listened to the sounds they were making. Their heavy breathing, Adrian's deep groans, the rustling of her dress. She opened her eyes to gaze into Adrian's before she came. Her hands wrapped around his neck and she kissed him gently, teasing him. This agitated him and was bringing him to the edge faster. His tiny groans became low grunts. That sound sent Lina wild and she started to cum. Adrian felt Lina spasm around him and he slowly let go of his control.

He let his body revel in the feel of hers and he bit into her neck gently to keep himself from voicing his pleasure.

He loved this woman. He loved this woman with every fibre of his being but he needed to keep his mouth shut until the earthquake of raw pleasure ended.

His body was exhausted; he had to focus to keep his legs from buckling. Lina felt him quiver as she basked in glorious afterglow. He needed to recover.

"Adrian?" She kissed his neck.

"Yes, darling?"

"Let me down?" He walked her over to the bed and set her down on her back. She crawled to the centre of the bed and patted the spot next to her. He watched her every movement and memorized every part of her. Her curves, the whisp of her hair, the way the dress draped over her body as she lay on the bed. She looked like a goddess. And she wondered how he could want her. Ludicrous. Lina's closed her eyes; she was tired, too. He climbed onto the bed and pulled her body flush against his. Her head and torso was draped across his chest. He could feel his Lina's heartbeat. He silently vowed that he would never allow her heartbeat to stop.

He _will_ prevent nuclear war. No matter the cost.

….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….

Hey guys, we're in the process of moving so I kinda fell behind. Sorry. I suck. But, on the bright side, I've had A LOT of time to think about adding in hot characters for potential love triangles. For the Comedian, Rorschach, and Jon, I've got their roles down, but I still don't know which one out of the 3 to do. Misty Day doesn't even want to have a third character in the mix. I need more opinions on what to do! Please send a PM or write in the review? I already have a favourite, but I'm not gonna say which one yet..

The next chapter will be up within 7 days, just to make up for being a sloth with this chapter.

Bunniz24, HAPPY 17TH BIRTHDAY! Yayyyy! You have the same birthday as my boyfriend too. Which makes me a little sexually attracted to you. Beware.

I tried to crank out the chapter like 2 hours before midnight that day as a bday present, after I read your review, but I was so exhausted. I tried. I really tried. *sniffles* Hope you had a great one. I didn't. I kinda had a mid-life crisis when I turned 17. Early mid-life crisis. Anyway! Msg me!


	6. Chapter 6

Adrian wandered the halls of Dimitrius' home, in his pajamas, chest bare. When he was orphaned at the age of 17, Dimitrius offered Adrian his home as a refuge through all the difficulties he was enduring. Dimitrius used to walk with Adrian up and down these halls for hours during the night, when Adrian was having nightmares.

"Adrian." Called Dimitrius. Adrian turned and found his foster-father. He did not need to squint, even in darkness. Another supernatural 'gift', as Dimitrius would often call it.

"Dimitri, why are you up?"

"I heard footsteps."

"They could not have been mine. Your bedroom is on the other wing of the estate."

"Do you suppose…"

"No. Even that bastard Edward would not try anything in your home. The others revere you. He would have to face their wrath."

"How is it that he came to know of your plan, son? You would not tell me on the phone." Dimitrius coughed loudly. All this whispering was grating his already ailing throat.

"Come. Let's speak in your study." He gently took hold of the elderly man's shoulders and guided him through the pitch black darkness, into his office. Dimitri hacked out a rough cough as he sat down at his desk.

"Come now. Tell me how Eddie came to know."

"I do not know yet. I assume he has been spying on me on behalf of the government." Adrian leaned back in his chair and rubbed his face. He was truly exhausted. It didn't help that he had all these stresses of saving the world by ending the Cold War before the nukes starting flying, but on top of all that, Lina was taking an integral part of his focus.

When he needed to be thinking about murder and genocide and how to prevent it, he couldn't be compromised with constant images of her screaming his name. Why did she have to come now? He was grateful beyond words that he had possession of her, but he wondered how he could handle these plans of his, while juggling the most important relationship of his life.

"You are thinking about her, aren't you?" Asked Dimitrius. Adrian didn't have to look at him to know he was smiling. "She's really gotten a hold of you."

"That's the problem!" Adrian said exasperatedly. "Her very essence is absorbing all of my attention. How can I possibly follow-through with my project when I'm constantly worried about her safety and happiness?" He contemplated for a second. "Should I tell her, Dimitrius?" Dimitrius opened the curtains behind him and looked out at the city lights in far away distance.

"Maybe you shouldn't let her absorb all of your energy. Maybe you should let her be your inspiration." Adrian listened intently. "If you feel that you need to pay particular attention to the project at any time, remind yourself that the attention your heart wants to spend on Angelina, should be spent on saving her life." He sighed heavily at having to broach the topic of her demise. "Afterall, if your plans are not executed in time, Lina will die. We all will."

"I have a better idea," said an unknown voice from the door, "let _me_ take her off your hands." He laughed to himself as he pulled out another cigar to light. Adrian turned to the glowing red dot of the cigar and knew who it was instantly.

"Don't you dare…" warned Adrian menacingly. "If you so much as lay a hand on her Blake." The Comedian laughed.

"If I don't, how are you going to execute the entire East Coast? I don't know about you but I got the feeling she wasn't a fan of murder." The word 'execute' made his heart ache.

"Kill millions to save billions." Adrian's voice was steel. "It's the only." He walked up real close to Eddie. "I wouldn't even have to sacrifice these people if the Watchmen had teamed up to save the world from it's ugly self." The Comedian took another puff of his cigar. "Do you remember Edward? Do you remember that day?"

….::::::…. Flashback ….::::::….

Ozymandias stood in front of a map, before all of the other superheroes.

"Welcome to the first ever meeting of the Watchmen." He crossed his arms, about to debut his plan that would ensure the safety of America and the world.

"The Watchmen ended years ago." The Comedian took a swig of his flask. "It didn't work then, and it won't work now."

"I have an idea. How about we agree not to drink at meetings?" Inserted Dan sarcastically.

"There is so much we can do for this world. We can save this world." Said Adrian. The Comedian shook his head and stood up with a huff.

"You may be the smartest man in the world Ozymandias, but the people in this room aren't small enough to follow you as a leader. Humans have been killing themselves since the dawn of time. I say let them." He took his cigarette lighter and held it at the corner of Ozy's map. "Then the smartest man in the world here will be the smartest man on the cinder." He gestured to the map and walked out.

….::::::…. End Flashback ….::::::….

"Do you remember Eddie?" Adrian asked.

"I spoke the truth, Oz. The world was gonna come to an end some day, and lookit here. Doomsday Clock's at 5 to midnight."

"We could have _prevented_ this!" Adrian said with rage. He met Eddie eye to eye, their faces close. They abruptly grabbed each other started making out. Lina walked in at that very moment and started throwing sharp objects at Adrian while screaming obscenities and crying frantically. All the while, Dimitrius was asleep in his chair.

_Wait WHAT?_

_(lol, I'm just kidding.)_

"We could have _prevented_ this!" Adrian said with rage. He met Eddie eye to eye, their faces close. "The sacrifice of New York will be on your hands, too." Adrian's words turned vicious. "Not that it matters. All the defensless, unarmed women and children you've either brutally attacked or killed over the years… your hands are stained so red with blood, I don't think they will look any different after the attack." The Comedian just glared. He knew there was truth in his words.

"That was war."

"_This_ is war." Shouted Adrian.

"Edward, Adrian, that's enough." Dimitrius struggled to get on his feet. "Adrian, I do not agree with this path you are taking, but you are my son, so I cannot divulge your secrets." He patted Adrian's back and turned to Edward. Both of the young men expected Dimitri to say some wise words to Eddie, as well. Instead he said, "Stay away from Angelina. She belongs to this family now." He made his way out of the office, wanting to retire for the night. "We are all well aware of your sport with women, but Angelina has been claimed by my son. Leave her be."

Adrian glared at Eddie for a long second before following Dimitrius.

Eddie sighed and sat down at the large teak desk. He rubbed his face and noticed his cigar was almost done. He rubbed it into the ashtray next to him, and took another deep breath. The window behind was wide open, so the cool, moist air of the night overtook the room. He loved the smell of night. He took yet another deep breath.

"I love night air, too." Said Lina, quietly. She startled the Comedian. He composed himself quickly, embarrassed to be caught with his guard down.

"What?"

"You're breathing in the night, aren't you? Or are you just stressed?"

"Bit of both." He looked at the way the moonlight lit her body and face. She was leaning against the doorframe of the office. She was wearing a white silk night gown down to her knees. He noticed how long her hair was when it was open. She had pinned it up earlier tonight. He liked it open and billowy. He purposefully sniffed in that tough guy way. "So, what are you doing up?" He smirked. "Don't think Adrian would like his precious 'Lina' wandering the halls of an old haunted castle in the dead of night." His face turned serious, but sad. "Don't want a monster to get you." He knew he was referring to himself and looked away.

"I'm not 5, Edward. I stopped believing in that stuff when I found out that both the Tooth Fairy and Santa were actually my Dad." Eddie smirked.

"That's not what I was talking about." She walked up to him and sat down on the desk besides him.

"Then what?"

"Nevermind Angie. Go back to bed."

"I can't. I'm looking for Adrian." She cocked her head to the side. "I haven't been called Angie in a while." She tried to remember who the last person was. She blinked and froze. "Jessica."

"Huh?"

"Jessica! My best friend! I was totally supposed to take her out to dinner tonight!" The Comedian shook his head and stood up.

"A little late now."

"I know. Shit, I have to call her. She's prolly worried sick. Lemme call her." She touched her thighs. "Oh right." She wasn't wearing jeans.

"Here." He handed her his.

"No, she's in New York. It'll be long-distance."

"Just take it."

She hesitated as she took the phone.

"I'll make it fast." She dialed the numbers, trying to remember the international code. Eddie watched the her anxious face. She was biting her lip. He had to fight to lick his.

The phone rang into voicemail.

"Jess, I'm so sorry I bailed. It _completely_ slipped my mind. I mean, I was just here talking to a friend and he said something that reminded me of you, and I'll be home…" She shot a look at Eddie. "… tomorrow? Oh yeah, of course tomorrow. I have work." She giggled at the fact that she forgot she had a day job. "I'll call you when I'm home. Love you." She flipped the phone shut quickly. Resting her hands on her knees, she sighed loudly.

"What?"

"Two days with Adrian and I've completely forgotten that I have a life besides him." She smiled to herself, and sat back up with her arms folded across her chest. "Hey, I totally forgot about what you were saying at dinner. Who's this Bree-Anna girl?"

"You don't wanna know, doll."

"Yes I do. Tell me."

"No." He waved her off.

"Tell me, now." He glared at her, annoyed, but a little amused. He leaned in close and said,

"No."

"Fine. I'll just ask Adrian myself." She said in a huff. She looked him over with angry eyes. "How old are you?"

"Kid, you ask too many questions."

"I'm not a kid."

"That's exactly what a kid would say." Lina threw her hands up in the air.

"You are _so_ frustrating! It's impossible to have a conversation with you."

They sat in silence for a few minutes.

"So what's the deal with you and Ozymandias, huh? I've known him for almost 20 years and he's never taken a liking to a broad this quick."

"To be honest, I'm not exactly sure what's happening. I mean, the moment he saw me, he just… came after me." She ran her hand through her hair. "I mean, I'm not blind. I know I look kinda nice, but it was just weird, you know? The way he pursued me. It was so aggressive, and it somehow… it felt so genuine."

"If it felt genuine, why'd you run?" Lina rolled her eyes.

"Has Adrian told the whole world about that? Geez."

"It was on the news." Lina didn't absorb the words at first. Then her head riveted to the Comedian.

"What?"

"The news."

"What about the news?" She asked.

"Adrian made a public appeal at about 5am when they couldn't find you. He even called all of us to keep an eye out for you." Lina cringed.

"I went straight home."

"Yeah but you're just rooming with a friend, ain't you. Your name wasn't on any lease and your number wasn't listed. He had no way of finding you." Lina's cheeks were hot. "So he did an urgent press release, releasing your name. He urged anyone who knew the whereabouts of an Angelina… whatsyername… to call the police." Eddie surprised himself at how much he was talking. He normally only spoke a few words to people at a time, and even those were usually sarcastic or just plain rude. He liked this. Talking to her.

"And then?"

"Someone who knew were you lived called the police and they called the number of the address. I guess Jenny picked up and said you were home. Mission accomplished." Eddie lit another cigar and puffed a few times.

"Jessica." She corrected him. Lina replayed the morning at work again and again. No one had mentioned anything to her. Not even her boss. Was Eddie just jacking her?

"So, why'd you leave?" Lina met Eddie's eyes to make sure he wasn't playing her. She knew she was gullible, so she was cautious. Eddie couldn't look away. Her eyes were large and innocent. She was smart to be as guarded as she was. The world was a cruel place to girls like her. She needed to be protected. From people like him.

His eyes followed the trail of her neck, down to her snug fitting nightgown which cupped her breasts beautifully. Her tummy was just faintly rounded, like a real woman. Her legs peeked out from under the white fabric, and he restrained himself from slowly moving his hand up her thigh.

He caught himself before he got carried away with his thoughts. He had received warnings enough from Adrian and the old man. She was off limits.

He had never cared about limitations before. In fact, women who were off limits were especially appetizing. Like this pretty little thing sitting next to him. He imagined what her body would look like without that thin sheet of silk which hugged her curves so tantilizingly. Suddenly, she bent down low at a certain angle, letting him catch a glimpse of her body in a shape that sent a current through his veins.

He breathed through his mouth. His eyes devoured her shape.

"Lina, what are you doing here?" Adrian strode over to her and pulled her close.

"I woke up and you weren't there."

"So you wandered around the estate alone?" He shot a glance at Eddie. Eddie rolled his eyes. "That's not safe Lina. I never want you out of my sight."

"The why did you leave me?"

"Because you were sound asleep in our bed. I didn't think you'd be taking a midnight stroll." Adrian said softly. He cupped her face and pulled her in for a deep kiss. She stood on her tiptoes to reach him. Adrian loved the feel of her hands on his bare chest. His hands ran over the thin silk of her nightie and the thought of how easy it would be to rip, aroused him.

"Jesus Christ." Sighed the Comedian.

Adrian closed his eyes at the interruption and opened them immediately when he remembered what Lina was wearing. He must have been watching her body the entire time, that bastard. He pulled her close and buried his face in her hair, eyeing the Comedian.

"Let's go, darling." Adrian led her away and cringed when Lina called out,

"Goodnight Edward," in that sweet voice of hers. His hand tightened around hers. He'd show her who her voice was meant for. He'd show her tonight.

Meanwhile, Eddie was sitting there, his body awakened and need of a release. He sighed to himelf, regretting that Lina had been taken away. Even if he couldn't touch her, she was real easy on the eyes.

He got up with a groan and wandered slowly out of the office. He though he'd just change out of his dinner clothes and go to bed. He was tired of thinking about ways to debunk Veidt's plan of turning New York into a crater. He needed to shut his eyes.

Just as he was about to turn the corner, a shadow in the distance caught his eye. He waited until it moved close enough for him to see who it was. It was about 2 or 3 am, and the maid was performing her nightly duties. She wore the classic maid`s outfit, which was common in Italy, and Eddie took the opportunity.

He met her halfway. She stopped and nodded her head in respect. She knew he was close to the owner of this estate.

He let his eyes wander over her, not bothering to hide interest. He smiled approvingly and took hold of her hand. She looked up, knowing what he wanted. He may not remember her, but he had used her before. And she loved it. He led her to his room and shut the door behind them. He slowly walked up close to her, lifting her chin so he could see her face.

He noted that she was pretty. She had dark hair and tanned skin, with a lithe body. His hands ran down her arms and she shivered under his touch. Her body was wired. She was ready for this. She was ready for more when Edward had refastened his belt after he used her a year ago.

She rose to on her tiptoes and held his face to kiss him tenderly. He grabbed her and pushed her back. He didn't like kissing his liasons. It was too intimate. Sex was rough; raw, earthy. He was entitled to a woman's body; nature demanded it. But kissing signified a deeper connection. One that he had not felt since Laurie's mother, Sally Jupiter. It was a connection he didn't want with anyone else.

He roughly began unbuttoning her dress, feeling himself get more aroused with every inch of skin he exposed. She tried to take off his clothes, but he kept waving her hands away. He was in control here.

She stood before him naked and trembling with anticipation. He briefly imagined Lina leaning over when he was watching her in the office.

"Get on the bed." She walked over to the bed and knelt on the edge. He figured, if that's how she wanted it, he'll give it to her. He walked over to her and ran his hands over her back and then her legs. He licked his lips when she quivered and proceeded to unbuckle his pants. He undressed himself slowly, savouring the sight before him.

She pushed herself against him. He was taking too long and she was getting impatient.

"Per favore.. _(Please..)_" She whined. He just chuckled at her. He didn't know Italian, but he had a good idea what she was getting at. His body was hot and raring to go, but he changed his mind. He didn't want to give her what he wanted. He was gonna take what he wanted.

He roughly grabbed her waist and turned her over. He positioned himself inbetween her legs and gave her a wicked grin. She whimpered and trembled, waiting for the assault.

He felt the heat of her emanating onto him. His hands teased her into a tangle of nerves. His hands ran over her breasts, down her tummy, to where she needed it most.

Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. She got up and tried to bring him down onto the bed. She yanked at his arms, but he was like a solid block of steel. She remembered what it felt like holding on to him a year ago when he was pounding her, and realized he was too heavy for her to push around.

He smirked and quickly yanked her back down, pulled her to him by her legs and rammed himself into her, drawing a spine-tingling scream from her.

He drove into her fast and hard and groaned loudly at how tight she was. He was breathing hard as he tried to block out her screams. She was screaming his name and it was turning him on immensely. So much so, that he was afraid she might bring him to the end too quickly. He focused on the shaking of her breasts as he fucked her senseless. His groans became louder and louder and her screams became more shrill as she came close.

He picked her up and put her on her knees roughly, pounding into her from behind. She grabbed the bed sheets and squirmed against him. She would not let him go to sleep tonight. She was going to get this from his all night long, she promised herself.

His hands found her breasts and let the weight of them make his jaw clench. He held her by the waist and made her move faster and harder against his thrusts.

A moan formed up from deep in her chest as she began to spasm around him. She writhed under his hands, knowing there would be bruises in the morning. He groaned low and loud as he felt her cum around him. His body froze to brace for the waterfall of pleasure. His grip on her body turned to steel.

….::::::….

Adrian had a tight grip on Lina's hand as they made their way back to their room. He was imagining all the things he would do to her but remembered that they were in Dimitrius' home. He respected Dimitrius too much to make Lina scream for dear life when Dimitri and his guests were just in the other rooms.

He looked down to Lina. She yawned quietly and looked around dazedly; half-asleep. She was tired.

"Lina, what were you and Blake discussing?"

"Nothing, really. I thought I heard your voice in that hall, so I walked around and saw Edward."

"But what were you discussing exactly." Adrian pressed on. He wanted as little contact as possible between Lina and that bastard. Partly because he didn't want him mentally undressing her, but also because he didn't want Lina to know about the atrocity he was about to commit. Yet.

"Umm.." She racked her brain. "Oh!" She exclaimed, remembering that she had to question Adrian about something.

"Yes?" Adrian asked, alarmed.

"How could you make a public appeal the night that I left?" She stood before him, hands on her hips. Adrian sighed silently in relief. "I mean, I get that you were worried… but the news?"

"I needed to find you."

"How come you didn't just wait until the next day? You could have called in to see if I was at work or not."

"But that wouldn't be until morning."

"So?"

"I don't understand this conversation. You're my life." His body felt hollow as he remembered the pain. "I felt an ache that night that I never knew existed." He walked up close and pulled her chin up to meet his eyes. "You must promise to never give me that pain again."

She reminded herself how to breathe. His blue eyes bore into her brown ones and pierced through her soul. Her hands found his chest, igniting that familiar flame inside her belly. She licked her lips and touched his face. The man standing before her was… extraordinary. She couldn't comprehend that something so radiant and beautiful could be hers. She felt her eyes well up.

"What are you thinking?" He asked quietly. He pulled her closer and wished at that moment that he could somehow get even closer. He wanted to be one with her. Not sexually. Just… be a part of her. Standing in front of her and holding her close was not enough. He wanted more.

"Tell me." He asked her once again. The way she was looking at him… he _needed_ to know what she was thinking. Lina took a deep breath and laid her head against his chest. She listened to his heartbeat and shivered when his long fingers traced her spine and shoulder blades.

_~This man is going to be the death of me.~_

"Dimitrius loves you." Adrian whispered.

"I had a feeling." She smiled.

"He's been waiting for you, Lina. And now that you're here, he's become more protective of you than he was of me when I was a child." He buried his face in her hair. He had been awaiting her, as well.

"What do you mean?"

"You are the princess of this family; of the empire that we have built. Dimitrius will protect you like a daughter."

"Protect me from what? Walking around alone at night?" She chuckled. "I think you've got that one covered."

"This is serious, Lina." He took her hands and wrapped them around his neck. "There are dangers out there that you cannot fathom. Beautiful as you are, that is not the only thing you are to be blamed for." Lina raised her eyebrows.

"The only thing I am to be blamed for is loving something that I feel was not meant for me." His eyes became hard. His arms tightened around her waist.

"What does that mean?" Lina looked away. She didn't want him to be angry again. She shouldn't have said anything.

"Nothing. What else am I to be blamed for?"

"What did you just say." It wasn't a question. It was an accusation.

"Nothing." She laid her head against his chest and hugged him tightly, hoping he would let it go. He shook his head, muttering to himself. He knew exactly what she said, but he wanted her to repeat it so she could hear how ridiculous it sounded for herself. "What were you saying before Adrian? What else am I to be blamed for?"

"For succumbing to my selfish advances." She looked up, confused. "By being mine, you expose yourself to a world of dangers that you would not face had you chosen an ordinary man."

"I don't want an ordinary man. I want an extraordinary man." She paused. "I might have settled for an average man before, but only because I hadn't had a taste of you. Now, if we don't go all the way, I don't know what I'll do. You've raised the bar so high that when I try to date other men, they'll be no match, and I'll always be left unsatisfied."

"I don't like you talking about dating other men."

"I'm just saying. You never know."

"I am your first and I will be your last. No other man will ever touch you like I have. Do you understand me Lina?" He was crushing her. He was holding her too tightly.

"Adrian…" She breathed. He looked down and realized what he was doing. He let her go immediately and held her close to him gently, like a doll.

"I'm sorry, love. The reactions you extract from me are hazardous." He wrapped his hands in her hair and held her head against his chest. "Extreme love 98% of the time. Extreme anger 1% of the time. Jealousy beyond words the other 1% of the time." He sighed. "You will be the death of me, my love." Lina giggled.

"I thought the same thing about you a few minutes ago." Adrian smiled, but Lina paused in thought. "When have I ever made you jealous?"

"Just now when you were speaking to Edward."

"What?" She exclaimed. "_That_ made you jealous? Well then. What are you gonna do when I actually sleep with one of your friends." Lina flicked her hair back, smiling seductively. Adrian froze in horror.

"I'm taking you home."

"Ah yes, home."

….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….

I know I'm late! But I had no internet access for the last… however many weeks. I finished the story on the 5th, but couldn't make it to the library.. I'm sorry. *sniff* I have failed you.

The general consensus was that Adrian and Lina's relationship shouldn't be compromised by Lina falling for someone else. I wanted Rorschach. I had a wicked way for them to get closer and make him fall for her. Buuuut I guess I'll just have to start another fic. My second choice would have been Eddie, since he's all about rough sex. (hehehe.) But alas, the verdict has been made by you all. *shakes fist menacingly*

I snuck in a dirty scene with Eddie, so that's an acceptable substitute, I suppose.

And I decided to respond to every review/comment I get, because I appreciate them all so much and wanna show you guys how special you are to me for reading my stuff. I really didn't expect it to go this far. In fact, after every chapter, I have to push myself to come up with new ideas, because I have no idea where it's going. So basically, I'm pulling stuff out of my ass for you. Which is the most beautiful thing you can do for someone you love, isn't it?

Superdani a.: My heart melts when you tell me your favourite lines. Thanks for liking the story so much! You`re the best!: Adrian jealous is totally hot, I agree. But now there won`t be a love triangle that will show more of that side of him. I love you guys but your decision for a drama-less love befuddles me. Poop.VioletEmbry4ever: Yayyy thanks for liking the story! Adrian jealous is so lovely. We should kidnap Matthew Goode and do things to him. Just a thought…

CalmingWater1098: I was thinking Rorschach, too. But I think I`ll have to write another fic. But I don`t really wanna. How about adding another female? She won't compete with Lina or anything but I wanna see what Rorschach is like in a relationship. Hmm..Bunniz24: I *should* put you in a chapter! What's your first name? I could name the new girl character after you! Vera: Jon would have been my third pick, but you're right about Laurie accepting Lina. It would be cruel and unlike Lina. But Jon's an asshole. I never liked him. Whorebag. The dude who played Jon was hot in Mission Impossible: III, though. Thoroughly 07: Don't we all. Don't we all.

Vera Rose Nightingale: I wanted Rorschach, too! But you people! Man. I'm gonna write another girl in. Should she be the complete opposite of Lina? Blonde, super-confident, pursues love instead of runs from it? Tell me.

Gigli: I'm glad you like it! Your review kept eating away at my conscious as I knew I missed my deadline, day by day… You made me feel guilty without even trying. You'll make a great Mom one day, lol.blueOeyedOdevil: Oh no! Here it is!Misty Day: I love Carolyn: I learned that he was gay only after I put up chapter 1. But I was so enamoured with him that the discovery of his sexuality traumatized me. So now, I'm living in a state of total shock… which I like to call Angelina World! *carnival music plays in far distance* … where eating chocolate makes you lose weight and random shirtless male models carry me everywhere I need to go, maiden style! Yayyy!1!11

Thank you guys so much for your words! If I ever had to choose between Adrian Viedt in real life, or you guys… I'd choose you. (Lies. I'd choose Adrian. But I'd ride him extra hard just for you.) And I'm sorry for getting some slash fans excited when the story took a turn and Eddie and Adrian made out. That was fun.


	7. Chapter 7

Lina pulled away for a breath but Adrian pulled her face back to his. She tried to gasp as he sucked the breath out of her.

"Adrian…" She exhaled, eliciting a groan from Adrian. He held her arms above her head. The airplane bathroom was cramped, so his body was pressed up against hers. "Adrian I love you." His gut clenched with the need to make love to her, right then and there. He kissed her hard and felt his heart swell with love when he felt her arms struggle to break free of the grip of his iron hands. It was endearing to see this fragile creature fight his strength.

"I need you inside me." His arms flexed and he glared hard at the woman he would make his wife, trying hard to hold back his strength.

"I thought you didn't want to." He whispered hoarsly. Lina closed her eyes, feeling an electric current buzz down her spine, into her tummy, where her body was roaring. Adrian nuzzled her neck, kissing it gently. Lina shivered.

"You're right."

"No." He cursed himself. He meant to tease her, not remind her. She didn't want to do this in the airplane bathroom because the plane was small and the crew would hear. He made a mental note to purchase a larger aircraft. "It's been an eternity, darling. I can't wait any longer." He found her lips again and kissed her breathless. She continued her futile battle against his strength and he decided to mock her a little bit. He arranged his grip so that he held both her wrists with just one of his hands. His other hand began to roam freely along her curves, which won a panic-stricken look from Lina. He smiled wickedly.

His hand moved down her hips, back up to tickle her tummy, then onto her chest. And slowly but surely, much to her horror, he stroked her breasts and earned a hard shudder from her body. He felt himself harden unimaginably and growled her name. He teased her there for a little longer and for a moment he thought he could bring her to the edge just by touching her this way. Her face was glowing, her hair was a mess, and she was on the brink of tears.

"No one will hear." He let go of her arms. "Undress yourself." He started to unbuckle his belt and eyed her wearily as she just stood there. "Lina. I need you. Please don't do this to me."

Her gaze pierced through him as she whispered,

"Me first." Adrian sighed a breath of relief. She was yielding to him. All she wanted was a little playing with first. He smiled mischieviously as he bowed to her command. He reached down to snake his hands under her dress, but she pushed him away. With a jolt of pleasure, he realized she wanted to play with him first; something which she had not had the courage to undertake in the last few days that he was teaching her the art of love-making.

He braced himself against the counter and, with pleasure so raw that it was almost painful, he watched her. Her fingers carefully caressed and stroked him, going slowly as she was still learning. She gained confidence; her eyes locked with his, and all he could do was gaze helplessly back at her. He was at her mercy. Lina licked her lips; this was exciting her more than she imagined, making Adrian groan deep. His body locked down; forgoeing all movement, only his piercing blue eyes devoured her beautiful figure, her innocent face, and her trembling hands.

Then suddenly, without warning, Lina moved down to taste him.

His body reacted thunderously. He stiffly took hold of her, shredded her clothes to pieces, and turned her around to face the wall. His body was shaking with pent up lust, so he didn't bother to take his time with her. His fingers quickly sought her out where she was most vulnerable and worked on her urgently. She screamed in surprise and purred in white hot extacy. Even her delectible pants could be heard in the cabin, which made him smile. He pictured how red she would blush when they emerged from this bathroom.

She writhed, begging him to take her. He turned her around, ran his hands over her tummy and breasts again, fighting back a groan when he pictured them bouncing and shaking. He kissed her deeply, securing her head between his large hands, but struggled to breathe, as this time she was the one pulling him close and not breaking the lock of their lips. He placed her arms around his shoulders and gripped her hips. He looked over her body again and then met her teary-eyed gaze. He almost didn't want to take her. He didn't want to disturb the expression of raw lust on her face.

But her fingers snaked down and stroked him and he lost all reason. He rammed himself into her, drawing from her a spine-tingling scream. He went fast and hard, his body raging with need. She moaned his name repeatedly and he shuddered at the sounds she was making. Her nails dug into his shoulders and back as she tried to keep a grip on conciousness. His mouth caught her breasts and gave them all the attention he could without bringing her to the edge, making her pant and jerk against his large frame, yet she whined for more. He wanted a better view of what he was doing to her so he turned her around and made her hold the counter. He kissed her lower back and watched her in the mirror as he violated her. He could feel her body tighten around him and he knew that she was close. She hummed and moaned at his assault and leaned back as far as she could to kiss him. He met her lips and slammed into her harder for those few moments, until he felt her body begin to spasm around him.

Adrian held onto her delicately as she squirmed in his grasp, groaning and gasping for dear life. Adrian held back his moan from the shockwave of pleasure that her body gave him, just so he could brag later on about who made the most noise, since she made such a fuss about it before.

When the pleasure subsided, she quivered, leaning into his body for warmth. He wrapped his arms lovingly around her torso and chest and whispered sweet nothings into her hair.

"I love you Adrian." She sighed when his breath tickled her neck.

"Lina…" He wanted to reciprocate, but words could not describe how he worshipped her. All he could do was express himself through touch and gazes. Lina loved him more for it.

Suddenly, she froze. Adrian felt her tense up.

"What is it?" He murmured, kissing her neck.

"We were so loud…" Adrian fought back a laugh.

"We?" He turned her around so he could look at her. Meeting her terror-struck face in the mirror wasn't satisfying enough. "No dear. _You_… were loud. Oh so loud."

"What do we do?"

"Go outside and pretend it never happened? No one will say anything, Lina."

"Not to us, but they'll talk amongst themselves."

"I'm pretty sure they are already doing that." Her eyes widened.

"Have you heard something?"

"Nothing, Lina." He stroked her hair. "But we only met two nights ago, and I've already made announcements of our marriage. People are surely talking."

"Announcements?"

"Mhmm."

She held her forehead.

"Like when you announced on the news that I left your place at 3 in the morning? That kind of announcement?"

"In a way. Except I wasn't making an appeal. I had someone draft a press release."

"When the fuck was this?" A look of shock passed over Adrian's face. He had never heard her swear before. She was so sweet and docile.

"Last night, during our flight over here." ~Actually, she swears like a sailor in bed…~ He amended in his thoughts.

"How come you never tell me these things!" She quickly became agitated. "I found out about the Missing Person's appeal from Eddie, and now I find out about a marriage announcement in an airplane bathroom 12 hours _after_ you make the announcement?" She flailed her arms about as she spoke. "What next? Are you gonna take me to Vegas and tell me we got married in one of those drive-through wedding chapels, while I was _asleep_?" She turned around as much as she could in the tiny space and began looking for her clothes.

Adrian stood there, stunned, trying to figure out how her mood changed from blissful afterglow to PMS. Of course, he found her anger quite endearing. She was so fragile and weak compared to his superhuman strength, yet she had the cajones to tell him off whenever she felt necessary. Not many people raised their voice at him.

He gripped her waist and turned her around. She didn't fight it. She was busy looking at her shredded clothes, just like their first night together.

"Can you please go outside and get me some clothes?" She asked him.

"Of course. Maybe then, since we'll be going out separately, we can fool the crew into thinking we weren't in here together!" He said chuckled softly as he teased his love.

She stared him down.

Adrian sighed.

"I am sorry that I didn't inform you, darling. This whirlwind romance is happening so quickly, it seems as though…" his fingers grazed her tummy, "we're always occupied."

She didn't say anything.

"But if you wish, I will tell you of all events regarding you, or our relationship, hence forth."

"Or you."

"Or me." He said with a smile. She wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her head against him.

"Thank-you." He felt her breath on his chest and his arms tightened around her. "I'm sorry for getting mad. I don't like people talking about me. But if it's inevitable, you know, if I ever find myself engaged to a superhero or something, I'd like to be given a heads-up." He just nodded and held her face close. Lina shivered. "It's so cold in here."

"Shall we go the bedroom?"

"Bedroom?"

"Yes."

Lina contemplated for a moment.

"Does it have a bed?"

Adrian eyed her.

"Yes, dear, as the name suggests." He reached for the door handle which Lina thought was just décor. It opened a door that she didn't realize existed, into another room on the other side of the aircraft. "Why did we have sex in here if you had a bedroom on this plane?"

"I thought about bringing you in here, but then it wouldn't feel quite like the Mile High Club then, would it?"

"I wouldn't know, it's my first time." Adrian pulled her flush against his chest, loving the feel of her breasts grazing his chest.

"I know, Lina. That's so much a part of why I love you so." He kissed her softly. "Your innocence; your soul is unblemished. I feel honoured to be the man to initiate you into the Mile High Club." Lina snaked her arms around his neck.

"I think you've initiated me into everything one can be a part of, in the last few days."

"What can I say… I know the ropes." Lina frowned. She didn't like the sound of that. She loved the fact that he was experienced, since that meant he could show her the heights, but a part of her hated it, because it meant he had inumerable conquests before her. Adrian led her over to the bed and wrapped the thick white duvet around her. She shivered again, lying down with him for some body heat. Adrian rubbed her arms for a few minutes, wanting to touch her continuously, and grateful for the excuse of the brisk air in the airplane.

She stared into the depths of his grey-blue eyes. She never cared for blue eyes before. She had always thought them a little overrated. But his shone with great intensity every time he looked at her. Her breathe caught in her throat at the sight of his perfect features.

"I've arranged a meeting with the wedding planner for you."

"The who?"

"She'll be waiting for you at our home. Katherine Drine." He moved onto the bed and laid on his back. Lina struggled to worm herself out of her blanket caccoon; she wanted to cover Adrian. Adrian helped her out.

"I hadn't even thought about a wedding."

"I told you my intentions."

"Yeah, but it still kinda seems like a fairytale. Prince meets peasant girl and falls madly in love with her.. ya know?"

"No, I don't know. Because this isn't something out of a storybook." He turned on his side and held her face in his hand. "The love I feel for you is untold. Our own story. A love story for the ages." He whispered the last part and realized how much he'd grown.

….::::::…. Flashback ….::::::….

Adrian sat in Dimitrius' study, across from him. Adrian's 30th birthday was approaching and Dimitrius had gone through his usual rant about how Adrian was not fulfilling one of his greatest duties.

"You know I am right." Dimitrius said.

"I vehemently disagree." He shook his head. "I have no desire to marry, or even have children for that matter. Why must we talk about this every birthday?" Adrian stood up, making his way over the Cognac. He poured out glasses for Dimitrius and himself. "Not only do you insist upon celebrating a day that I have no interest in, but you also plague me with lectures about finding a woman." He downed his drink in one go and stayed quiet as it burned through his throat.

"I only want you to have what I have, son."

"I _do_ have what you have. I've built an empire, Dimitrius. An _empire_. You mentored me; molded me into you and look at what I've accomplished. I've turned our family into royalty where before we were just nobles."

"There is poverty in materialism Adrian." Dimitrius played with his glass, not drinking the Cognac. Adrian, though not his son biologically, was his son in every way that counted. He had tried to explain the value of a woman in a man's life. Adrian scoffed at the mere suggestion that he needed somebody. To need somebody is to be dependant on them. Adrian wanted none of that. He couldn't fathom why any man would choose to bind himself to a single woman for eternity.

"If you want me to father an heir to the family line, I can do that. But marriage is unnecessary. You are sorely mistaken to assume I am missing something in my life." He played with his glass, trying to think of a way to explain his reasoning to his father. "Love is abstract; intangible. If it is a mere feeling, could it not be imitated by drugs? It's only a high Dimitrius." Adrian poured himself another glass. This annual battle was wearing him down. "I've already found my highs: Women who are temporary and know that they are. And taking over the world." Dimitrius gave Adrian a look of warning. "In terms of business, of course." Adrian chuckled.

"The flesh love of an unknown trophy is material. The wealth you accumulate for this family is material. As I said, Adrian, there is poverty in materialism. You won't understand what I mean until you experience the euphoria of losing your sanity to a woman. Nevertheless, I fear it may be too late for Maria and I."

Adrian clenched his glass.

"Dimitrius. Don't."

"Don't what? Assume that my wife and I will never hold the hand of our grandchild? Or feel it's breath on our cheek?" Dimitrius stood up and walked towards the door as he spoke. "If you do decide to father an heir for this family, I must assume it will not be in my lifetime." And with that, he left.

Adrian was fuming. He hated it when foster-father talked about mortality. He had already lost his parents at the age of 17. He couldn't bare the thought of living without Maria and Dimitrius. Adrian sighed and ran his hand through his hair. After a moment of thought, he grabbed his suit jacket and dialed a number into his cell phone.

"Sarah. Twenty minutes."

He hung up and stalked his way into the garage, into his car, and drove off to find his high. The simple, uncomplicated high of sex.

Adrian dismissed the notion of love from his mind as easily as he forgot the bird who sang to him on his way off the estate. Love was irrelevant to a man like him.

….::::::….

"What are you thinking?" She asked quietly. His unfocused stare came back to her.

"Nothing, darling."

"You know, I read something in a magazine when I was little."

"Oh?"

"It said, 'Don't ask a man about his feelings because he doesn't have any. And don't ask him what he's thinking because that look on his face is probably just gas.'" Adrian chuckled.

"Do you believe that? Do you believe I have no feelings?" He kissed her hand.

"I used to think so. Before I met you in person."

"How so?"

"Don't you think the media portrayed you as kinda… devoid of all emotion?"

"I wouldn't know. I don't watch television." Lina's jaw dropped.

"No television?" Adrian eyed her skeptically.

"No." He waited for an explanation of her horror.

"I… I'm sorry Adrian. But this…we-… can't work." She sat up, not meeting his eyes.

His grip turned to steel. A few moments of terror-stricken silence filled the air. Adrian felt her body shake in his arms as she buried her face in the pillow. "Lina. Lina." He gently shook her, not understanding. He pulled her around to face him and at first Lina started laughing aloud, but when she saw the look on his face, she froze.

"No… I… that was a joke." She held his face close and kissed him with worry. "Honey?"

Adrian's body was hard, braced for impact of her sudden revelation that she no longer wanted him. But he saw the concern on her pretty face and unlocked his muscles, one by one, until he was as relaxed as he could be. She rubbed his shoulders and murmered to him. "I'm sorry. You know I love you." Her fingers ran down the back of his neck and he shuddered.

Adrian instantly remembered Dimitrius' line.

'_You won't understand what I mean until you experience the euphoria of losing your sanity to a woman.'_

Understanding his father's words felt like a milestone. At a younger age, he feared he would never be at the same level as his Dad. At least, in terms of love. As he felt his beloved coo over his worries, he knew he had her to thank for bringing him ever closer to Dimitrius. She was good for him in every way imaginable.

"Please tell me what you're thinking." She whispered. He felt her arms encircle his neck as she leaned her entire body against his chest, knowing he was more than strong enough.

"I was thinking about the days of my youth. I wasn't devoid of all emotion, as you put it, but I was devoid of romantic love. I didn't understand it and didn't want it."

"Really?"

"Really."

"When was your first love?"

"Just before you." But he quickly added, "Though, it was nowhere near what I feel now. I want things with you that I hadn't even thought of before."

"Are you talking about Bree-Anne?" She asked quietly. Adrian sensed her change in mood.

"You ask too many questions, my love." He chuckled and grazed her back. Lina pulled back to look up at him.

"That's exactly what Edward said." Adrian flipped her onto her back with lightning speed and held her down, kissing her neck. He hated it when she said his name. It sounded so lovely. He had to remind himself that she was at his mercy, not Eddie's. He continued teasing her neck as he questioned her.

"When?"

"Aahh.. when.." She licked her lips, trying to form coherent thoughts.

"When you were in Dimitrius' study?"

"Yeess.." She hissed.

"Who do you love Lina?" He whispered against her skin.

"Megatron." He heard her giggle. He pulled away and threw the covers off his body, about to get up.

"Adrian! I'm kidding!" She dove onto him and pulled him down by his shoulder; something which Adrian let her do, as he could have dragged her through the plane without so much as a grunt.

She pushed him back onto the luxurious silken covers and straddled his abdomen. Adrian reveled in the feeling of her on top of him, but kept his glee to himself. She leaned down to kiss him, but he turned his face. She tried again, unsuccessfully.

"Adrian!" she cried.

"Sorry." He shrugged. "The moment's gone"

"But.. I want some." She pouted. He smiled wickedly.

"Who do you love?" She leaned in close and looked deeply into his eyes. Her hair fanned out the sides, creating a curtain of darkness. Adrian ran his fingers through. Seductively, she said,

"Adrian Veidt."

His hands snaked to her breasts. She jerked in surprise and then sighed at the attention. She molded her body into his hands and began rocking her hips against his, grinding, driving him wild.

A ding went off in their room, along with the seatbelt light.

"We're landing." Adrian announced quietly. Lina didn't even hear him. She was too lost in the images of what she was about to do to him. Adrian picked her up off of him and began to dress himself with inhuman speed. She just sat there, in a haze of lust and confusion, watching him. When he finished, he turned to see that she hadn't moved. He smiled and found her underthings and skirt. Her shirt was a lost cause. She'd wear one of his. Again. He pulled her to her feet and held her face close to his. "I promise I'll let you make it up to me when we get home." She nodded and rose to your tiptoes to kiss him. She relished his scent and felt dizzy; though she wasn't sure if it was because of her 2nd plane ride or because of how pleasureful Adrian was to all five of her senses. He tried to break away but her arms held him close. His smile made her toes curl.

"Actually, not as soon as we get home." He finally said. "You have to meet Katherine."

"Fuck."

"What?"

"Why do you say her name like that?"

"Like what?"

"Say it."

"Katherine."

"See?"

"See what!" he said exasperatedly. What was she talking about and why wasn't she dressed yet? The plane was landing!

"Say Kathy."

"Kathy." He muttered as he tried to slip her skirt up.

"Yeah, Kathy definitely sounds better." She spoke aloud to herself.

"Lina." He pulled her shoulders forward and leaned down so he could meet her eye to eye. "What are you talking about?" Lina didn't skip a beat.

"The way you say her name. I don't like it. It sounds too..."

"Sounds too what?"

"Sounds like you're about to fuck her. Or already have." Adrian stared at her. It was a few months ago, during a gala. But he played it off.

"… you've completely lost your mind, you know that, don't you darling?" Lina shrugged. She knew that if she asked him whether he preferred her saying, 'Eddie' or 'Edward', he would agree with her logic. But Edward seemed to be a sore spot with him right now, so she didn't press on. He finished doing up the last button on the shirt he found for her.

"So.. wait, when am I getting sex again?" Her words came out in a garble because she was rubbing her face tiredly.

"Tired?"

"Yeah." She yawned. "Being in a sexual relationship is exhausting. Where's the bathroom?" She spun around and locked the door behind her.

Adrian watched her disappear.

…

He laid down on the bed and took a breath.

A deep breath.

The last few moments were tiring, especially when he couldn't understand her LinaTalk. He loved her more for being so unusual, but he wished he could understand her better sometimes.

He heard another ding go off. He knew they hadn't landed yet but he glanced at the seatbelt sign anyway. He heard the sound again and realized it was a phone. It was coming from the ground, where Adrian had her purse and some of her other small bags brought in.

He reached down and sifted through the tiny thing. He sifted through her lipstick and compact, lady products and iPod wires… until he found her cheap plastic phone. Adrian shook his head to himself, chuckling. The model he was holding came out 5 years ago. He knew because his company had produced it. It was a Sally Jupiter cell, and was rather cheap and clunky looking. His smile faded when he saw the name that was flashing.

Rorschach.

….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….

Hi everyone.

Sorry there was no update for so long.

And a special sorry to Britney. She knows why. Hopefully our dream of sexually violating Matthew Goode is enough to make us kindred spirits, and therefore is enough to force her to forgive me. (Cuz you can never be mad at a kindred spirit. Or else, when they die, they'll come back to haunt you, like the demon from Paranormal Activities) (WHICH btw, you guys HAVE to go see…) It`s like an Indi Film, super low-budget ($11,000) and was only to be shown at a few select theatres, but people began petitioning on the movie`s official website for it to be shown in their own cities, and BOOM, it is now at the movie theatre I work at and has been selling out since it opened. At least in Canada. Not so sure what`s happening in the States.

PS. I know they didn`t have cell phones in the 70`s. Just play along.


	8. Chapter 8

Adrian stared at the phone as it rang and buzzed.

The name Rorschach kept blinking in heartless digital letters. He felt mocked.

Countless questions rushed through his head. "When did they exchange contact information? Did she have the others' numbers as well? How long have Lina and Rorschach been talking without his knowledge? _Did he want her?_"

Lina walked out of the restroom and flashed a beautiful smile towards her love.

Of course Rorschach wanted her. Of course he did. And Adrian was a fool to introduce her to the sociopath before she bound herself to Adrian permanently. He should have waited till after the wedding.

"So this... wedding... Is it.. um.. really happening?" She asked in a non-chalant manner from across the room. She was digging through her luggage. But her question only sped his heartbeat. What the fuck? Hadn't they already been through this?

"Yes." He answered cooley. He looked down at the dormant phone in his hand and felt like smashing it. He felt like picking it apart, tearing it's insides into pieces... much like he felt like doing to Rorschach. Adrian's body was tense and he didn't make a move to take a seat when the seat-belt ding went off repeatedly. He just watched Angelina.

She found what she was looking for with a satisfied huff. She held it up and grinned at Adrian with the cheeky smile of a childish soul. Adrian's heart ached. Lina was meant to be only his. Only his.

His more-than-perfect vision saw the object she held from across the room, but didn't understand the meaning. It seemed to be a thin rope of some sort. His face was slightly pink and he controlled his breathing. He waited for an explanation in his rigid stance by the bed, but all he got was Lina pulling him across the bow of the plane hurriedly. Adrian barely had to strain to keep both of them grounded, but he played along with her charade.

The stewardess looked anxious as she had been patiently waiting for the couple to take their seats but lacked the courage to knock on the bedroom door. I mean... it was Adrian Veidt. Nobody disturbs Adrian Veidt.

Except Angelina of course. She was currently disturbing his peace and sense of self-worth, without even trying. They took their seats and clicked on their seatbelts automatically. Adrian met her eyes and she was caught for a moment. Her grin subsided.

Adrian couldn't help but stare at her, trying to answer all the questions in his head about Rorschach. His heart told him to be wary. This genuine goddess was too good to be true from the beginning. But his head swayed his passionate anger. Logically, her cheating wouldn't be possible. She was far too shy, she could barely look at Adrian in the eye without fake confidence. She was currently with a man who was, for lack of a better description, King, of every facet of the current era of civilization. Adrian was offering her the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars. Why would a rational person risk that for a psychologically questionable character, who provided no stability, or anything besides confusion and minor irritaion?

Lina held his hands in hers. She sensed a disconnect between her mood and his.

"What's wrong?"

His eyes glowed with silent prayer that he was wrong. But his face was tight; his hands... flacid.

"Adrian?" She reached up to touch the side of his face. Suddenly she asked, "Is Dimitrius ok?" Concern was written over her features, for his Father, and for him. "Adrian..." She spoke louder.

That comforted him slightly. Her worry for his Father sedated his anxiety.

"Dimitrius is fine."

"Then what?" She glanced over his body to see if he was hurt. Her eyes fell upon her cellphone. "Oh, did someone call?" It was flashing, which meant there was a missed call. She picked it up and read the name. Her smile flashed and she held up the phone for him to see. "Rorschach called! Why didn't you pick up?"

Adrian stared. He didn't know what to make of her reaction. She wasn't ashamed. She didn't act as if she had been caught. She was genuinely happy. Adrian's calm exterior flickered. His mind reeled.

"Your friends are very interesting. Rorschach especially. He's awesome. Did you know he's been a vigilante even after your team disbanded? I had no idea we still had a crime-fighter in New York." She paused. "I mean, besides the cops of course." He listened to her as she rambled on. "What about you Adrian? Why did you stop fighting crime?"

"I still do."

"What? When?"

"I fight corporate evil everyday."

"Oh. Of course." She pondered. "I can't understand how you could have been so successful, considering you're up against entire industries."

"I have done some things I'm not proud of."

"Oh?" She turned to face him and a twinkle gleamed in her eye. "Pray tell?"

"I cannot say. Like I said, I am not proud." He figured she would harass him until he gave in. The one flaw of women. They couldn't let things go.

She leaned in and gave him a gentle kiss.

"Ok. You'll tell me when you're ready." Without hesitation. Adrian couldn't hide his surprise.

Her expression turned to fear as the airplane jerked and swayed in preparation for the landing. Lina closed her eyes and clenched Adrians hands. She breathed in and out and forced distractions upon herself. Something... somewhere... someone...

...

Dan!

"Dan invited us over for dinner." She said through clenched teeth." What? Now _Dan_?

"Where?"

"His home. He lives in New York, doesn't he?"

"Yes he does. Did he mention when?"

"He said he'd return home in 2 weeks or so."

Two weeks was no good. New York would cease to exist in two weeks. His heart was heavy as he imagined his friend being killed in the destruction. He still had not decided whether to save them all before the attack. He was afriad that if he did, it would be too obvious during the government's investigation of the disaster. It would be too convenient for all the members of the Watchmen to be in safe areas of the world, while their New York homes crumbled into oblivian, along with millions of Americans.

"What did you want to show me?"

Lina's eyes lit up, as she remembered her modest gift. She straightened up the thin bracelet. He examined the maroon rope, but looked back at her questioningly.

"What is it?"

"It's a bracelet I've worn everyday since I was little." She played with his hands. "It's tradition in my family for the girl to give a token of 'Forever' to her husband-to-be. The generation I grew up in... my family wasn't very wealthy. So I'm not able to give you a chain or some precious gem that I wore my whole life. This bracelet is a very small token of love, but it's a token I've been waiting to give ever since I knew what 'love' was."

Adrian slipped the thin bracelet onto his wrist and felt his heart swell.

"You don't have to wear it around the office. I know it doesn't fit in the corporate world, bu-"

"No Lina." Adrian interrupted without taking his eyes off his wrist. "I will wear this for the rest of my life."

"Really? You like it? I've worn it since I was 7, up until I became an aide for the IP Corp. They wouldn't let me."

"It's the most meaningful gift I've ever had the honour of recieving." Adrian's mind moved fast. He remembered the gifts that stood out in his mind as his favourites, throughout his lifetime. A pearl white Maserati from Dimitrius. A collection of fine art from his biological Mother before her demise. A set of 18th Century crystal goblets from his former girlfriend.

But none of them had the thought and feeling of an entire lifetime behind them. They were purchases. Expensive transactions that temporarily brought him delight.

But Lina's bracelet had been on her wrist for her entire lifetime. She wore it for the sole purpose of making it a 'forever' token of her lifetime, to then gift to the man she spent the rest of her life with.

And she chose him.

How silly were his thoughts of infidelity. Lina's heart was like this bracelet. Simple and pure. She was too pure to throw his heart away the way he imagined. She was his. Forever. Just as her gift promised.

"Thank you."

….::::::….

"Kate will be waiting for us when we arrive. I'll have to leave shortly after taking you home to her."

"Where will you be?"

"I have some business matters to attend to."

"When will you be back?"

"In a few hours. I'll have Alecia there with you to take notes."

"Alecia, your secretary?"

"Yes. Have you met her yet?"

"No, I don't think so."

The car slowed to a stop, and the pair made their way to the private elevator in Veidt International. A redhead was waiting by the key slot, folders in hand, along with a smaller woman, whom Lina assumed was Katherine.

She wore a dark blue fitted silk dress and black pumps. Her makeup was dramatic and overdone for a mere business meeting, and her hair was overprocessed to the high heavens. Lina surpressed a sigh of relief. She had her suspicions that Katherine was one of Adrian's conquests, but even if she was, Lina couldn't care less. This woman tried way too hard.

Alecia, the girl holding the folders, had fiery red hair and was taller than Lina by a few inches. She had a polite smile and rigid stature which indicated that she did infact work for Adrian. Not one person who worked for him ever slouched or ever acted unprofessional. They say the employer's treatment of their employees determines their behaviour and work output. All of Adrian's staff indicated that he took care of them rather well.

Katherine reached out to embrace Adrian.

"Oh Adrian, it's been too long, hasn't it!" She exclaimed dramatically.

Adrian, being the gentleman he was, returned her embrace just as well, and gave a polite smile.

"Yes it has."

"When I heard my Adrian was getting married, I couldn't help but offer my services to your office. A Veidt marriage has been long awaited by many, hasn't it darling."

_My_ Adrian? _Darling?_ Yeah. Adrian definitely slept with her. Obviously she hadn't gotten over him.

This was gonna be a trial.

….::::::….

"What is it?" Adrian got right to the point.

The man sitting across from him took a deep puff of his signiture cancer.

"No pleasantries Oz? No, 'Hello, how are you friend?'"

"Friends? Hardly. I'd prefer the term... business partners?" Adrian scanned the room for weapons, should this get ugly, but all he found of use were a chair and lamp. Good enough. "We were both in the business of heroism, weren't we. Protecting the welfare of the people." Adrian scoffed. "Although I'd be hardpressed to think of a time when 'the welfare of the people' was ever your cause."

"How's Lin-?"

"Don't you fucking say her name." His spat, livid that he would dare to metion her.

His gut churned over the regret of leaving Lina alone that night, to wander the estate. Oh how he wished he could have prevented any meeting of the eyes between Blake and Angelina.

"She's beautiful you know." He said before inhaling another lungful of cigar-smoke. He breathed it out slowly through his nostrils and watched the ghostly shapes of smoke shift around him. "I'll be honest with you Oz. I haven't been able to stop thinking about her since that night."

Adrian smashed the desk infront of him in an instant.

His chest moved quick as his mind calculated the fastest way to kill him once and for all.

Edward Blake was a disease among the Earth. He offered nothing of value to society; only death and sadism. Blake would not be missed.

"I know about your plan Adrian." He said in a low, reverberating voice. "I know what you're going to do to this city. And I won't let it happen."

"What can you do to stop me?"

"Tell the world, obviously."

"And how exactly does a dead man talk?"

Edward laughed heartily. He knew he was in peril just by being in Adrian's presence, but he decided the bargain he planned to discuss with Adrian might save him. Or kill him faster.

"I'm willing to make a deal with you Oz." Blake inhaled the smoke as if it soothed his soul. Cigars were the only stable part of his life. He brought them home, caressed them, loved them. And then he lit them on fire and breathed in their toxicity. To Edward, his cigars were his women, during the rare times he had no females to use.

"My silence for Lina."

"Choose your words carefully." Adrian's voice was low and menacing. For a moment, he didn't care that they were in a private country club. He was going kill Blake and leave his broken body for the maids to dispose of.

"I'll let you turn New York into a smoldering crater, if you give me Angelina."

Adrian couldn't remember what happened after that. All he knew was that Blake needed to die.

….::::::….

"Adrian!" Lina sighed when he got home. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. This was the longest she had been away from his since their first night together.

Adrian dropped everything he carried and held her tightly by her waist, careful not to hurt her, yet wanting her to lose her breath.

Lina was surprised at his fervor, but loved it all the same. He buried his hands in her hair and kissed her like he had never done before. When Lina struggled for a breath, Adrian would bring her back to him. He memorized her scent, the sounds of her gasps as he ran his fingers up and down her back and neck.

His dexterous fingers undid the laces holding her lingerie together. The black lace fell apart around her and Adrian pulled her to the bed. Lina was breathing quick as she braced her body for a night of lovemaking like she never imagined. She sensed what Adrian wanted and kneeled on the bed for him, while he undressed himself watching her.

Adrian wanted to pleasure her first, as a true gentleman, but the universe had tested him this evening. And he almost snapped. He almost killed without warrant for the sake of his love, for his sanity. His gut clenched as he remembered the distant look in Blake's eyes when he said Lina's name, as if he was imagining his skin on hers. Rage burned in his chest, like vapid fumes of a toxic chemical fire.

But then Lina did something beautiful.

She took Adrian's hand and kissed his palm gently. She whispered,

"I love you, " as if she knew that Adrian needed reassurance of her feelings right at this moment.

After a brief stare, he crawled onto the bed, ontop of her, and kissed her breathless. He whispered sweet nothings into her ear and made her shiver from her toes to her fingertips. Adrian decided that tonight was their wedding night. Although there would be no ceremony, or signing of papers, Adrian knew in his heart of hearts, that Angelina was already his wife.

And with that confirmation, he made love to his bride until his name became synonymous with ecstasy, and until Lina decided where her place would be for the rest of her life. By his side, through the best of times, and the worst.

Little did she know, the worst was already on her doorstep.

….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….

It's been 6 months. I am sorry. Life has been hectic, and, frankly, Matthew Goode needed a break from reading the sex scenes I wrote about him, because his obsessive stalking is getting on my nerves (haha, I'm joking. If he stalked me, I'd tie him up in my basement, just so I could pull up a chair and watch him be my prisoner. But I wouldn't touch him against his will. I mean, _come on_. He's not an animal.)

AnnabelleLee13194 - OH SNAP. Haha, member that finger-flicking move in highschool? Memories. Superdani a. - Woman. You make my updates worth it. VioletEmbry4ever - For the longest time, I thought the only feelings men had were anger and hunger. And then Matthew Goode was cast to play Adrian Veidt. And the entire universe shifted. - He's calling her because he liiiikes heerrr... teehee. Btw, we can totally share A.V. You take him, Mondays, Weds, and Fridays. And I'll take him Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. We'll alternate Sundays. Misty Day - YOU ARE MY WIFE. 'Silly'Sanders - ThAnK YoU! I've never had sex before! But I read a lot :D Unknown - I found my perfect man on eharmony. (for realz.) Jenny Joker - Cliffhangers are awesome! (Except when they last 6 months . I'm an asshat.) EmJayy - I should warn you, I frequently demand sexual favours as payment. Marisa Serise - I love your name : o


	9. Chapter 9

She sighed and rubbed her face.

This was all too much to process.

At first, this whirlwind romance swept her into a dreamworld she could never have imagined, but now, she was getting tired. It wasn't that she didn't want Adrian... she just didn't want all the baggage that came along with him. His empire was taking up more and more of his time. More than Lina cared to admit.

Her phone rang. The flashing name was of her love.

"I was just thinking about you." She confessed, forgoeing the unnecessary greetings.

"As was I." She could hear a smile through his voice.

"I know why you're calling." She muttered quietly.

"Because I wanted to hear your melodious voice?"

"No."

"You're right. But it is one of the reasons I make love to you so frequently."

"Oh?"

"I'm a selfish man Lina. I've never worked on a woman's pleasure as much as yours." Lina frowned to herself. She was filling her stapler but the staple bricks kept on breaking into smaller and smaller pieces.

"I don't understand."

"The way my names trickles from your lips at the slightest touch." Lina's hands slowed. Her hearing became acute when she heard him take a deep breath. He was calming his tense nerves. Lina had this habit of creating so much tension in and around Adrian. Adrian smiled as he remembered how amazing she was at relieving it, too. He chuckled at her silence on the other end. "But to be perfectly honest darling, Katherine called me. She said you've been avoiding her calls?"

"She said that?"

"Not in so many words."

"I'm not. But... I am." She snapped the damned stapler shut with a triumphant fist pump. "What I mean is, I'm trying to focus on the report I have sitting on my desk, but I can't. I never imagined planning a wedding would be so time consuming."

"I agree. I've planned countless of functions myself. Balls and banquets... none of which seemed to require so much attention."

"I know! I mean, it is technically only a party after all. Who would have known how difficult it would be to arrange Gray Mist pintuck table linens and pastel blue silk chair covers?"

"Chair covers on chiavarri chairs? I though we decided against that."

"I thought so too! But according to Katie, we signed off on an order for 300."

"But the guest list is only 200 long."

"I know!" Lina exclaimed. Both mulled over this tangle.

"When will you be home tonight?" She asked. She missed him the last few days. The hours he was working were very long and odd. They hadn't made love since yesterday morning.

"Maybe 9, darling."

"If I promise to have a surprise waiting for you tonight, would that entice you to come home earlier?"

"Depends. What surprise?"

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise."

"If your _surprise_ involves lovemaking, don't bother darling. I'm planning on having you, anyway."

"Oh, is that right?" Adrian heard the grin in her voice and his chest ached. "What makes you think I'll even be putting out?"

Adrian paused.

"You don't have to be a willing participant. You can just lie there." Lina balked.

"Yeah and let you have all the fun?" They smiled at their silly banter for a few moments before Lina became serious.

"Spend some more time with me, Adrian. I miss you."

"John and I are almost done Lina. We just need a week or two more. Everything will be alright after that." Lina sighed. His vague timeline relieved her a bit. Not just for the sake of their relationship. But for the sake of the Doomsday Clock. She was glad it would all be over soon.

"I suppose I should be a bit easier on you. You _are_ saving the world after all."

"Consider it, won't you darling?" His heart felt hollow as his days were increasingly being devoted to his project and less to his love. He longed for her, but he knew that ultimately, should he fail, Lina, along with the rest of the world, would cease to exist. A few less hours in the day with Lina in his arms meant years more in the long run. She was his inspiration and his motivation.

"I should let you go. John must be waiting."

"Yes."

"I'll see you tonight Adrian."

"Tonight love."

And with that, Lina clicked her phone shut. She huffed at the compassionless computer moniter infront of her and prepared to buckle down and get this report over with once and for all.

"Hello Angie."

"Hey. Can you bring me the files for the Jennison account?" She squinted at the computer screen. She could have sworn her eyes were melting. Or were those tears? Tears of sweet boredom.

"No… I don't think I can." The man said with a chuckle.

"And why is that?" She asked as she swung around in her chair dramatically. Her jaw almost dropped in surprise at the man before her.

"Edward! What are you doing here?" She slipped her heels back on and turned pink. "I'm sorry, I thought you were my boss' assistant." He waved her abashed smile off and winked at her. He took in her form as she took in his. She wore a light blue cashmere ¾ length sweater-type shirt and a sharp black pencil skirt with tan pumps. Edward wore a handsome tan suit with the first few buttons of his shirt undone. This was the first time she had seen him without a cigar. Lina mused… he looked naked without it. "What are you doing here?" She smiled bright.

"I didn't expect you to be this happy to see me." He teased.

"Well, of course I am." Her attention was caught by all the other employees that suddenly found their way around her cubicle, pretending to do something work-related, but were blatantly staring at the same time. Lina rolled her eyes at their lack of subtlety. "Come. Shall we grab lunch?"

"I was about to ask you."

Lina quickly grabbed her things and made her way towards the elevator with Edward. The office was stifling. Adrian watched as Lina looked around wearily and couldn't help but use the moment to drink in her image. Her hair was billowy and gleaming as usual, and her face looked bright and awake. Partly due to the pink colour in her cheeks from embarassment no doubt, but partly because she was clearly in love.

Edward's spirit fell at the rememberance that he was not the object of her loving affection.

~Strange.~ He thought. It's not like he ever cared before.

"You know, you gotta get way more comfortable around them."

"Around who?"

"People who watch you." He pulled a cigar out of his jacket pocket on their way out of the elevator. "You're one of us now. They'll want a piece of you everywhere you go."

"The only downside to dating a superhero." She mused.

Lina and Edward walked half a block in silence. Edward consumed with thoughts of Lina's every move, and Lina oblivious to his attention. All she was concerned about was the Doomsday Clock. Whenever silence overtook her, no matter where she was or who she was with, her thoughts were drawn to the possibility that the silence could remain forever, should the war start right at that moment.

Edward noticed her shift in mood and wanted to inquire. But he was practiced in using a girls body, not communicating with her about her thoughts. This was all very new to him. He struggled to jumpstart a conversation.

"So, you got any idea where we're goin? Cuz I don't." He chuckled, expecting a laugh or at least a smile out of her. But she didn't even hear him. He watched her. "Lina?" He stopped and turned her by the shoulders to face him. "Lina."

"I'm sorry!" Flustered, she remembered that she wasn't alone and berated herself for having her head in the clouds around company. "I'm sorry, you were asking where we were going?"

"Yeah." She smiled and gestured to their right.

"We're here."

….::::::….

"So what time you gotta be back?"

"Back where?"

Edward paused.

"Back at work."

Lina laughed at herself.

"Doesn't matter. As long as the report's done today, my boss will be happy." They both looked out to the view of the city streets while they ate. Lina wasn't much for expensive restaurants but she ate here just for the view.

"You seem a little-"

"Absent-minded?" Lina finished. Edward just watched her. His grin subsided as her eyes fell. She looked so burdened, but he couldn't figure out why. She was marrying Ozy for Christ's sake. No money woes, no safety concerns... she was set for life.

"Something on your mind, doll?"

Lina hesitated.

"What are you views on the Doomsday Clock?" Her voice were low, but when her eyes met his, he could feel the gravity of her worry. Of course, Edward would have to tread carefully around the topic. He knew too much. Too much about Adrian. One slip of the tongue and Ozy would surely kill him in his sleep.

Even so. Just taking his woman out to lunch would have the same consequence. But that was a risk he was willing to take.

"It's complicated."

"Do you think Adrian and John will finish their work in time? I mean, it's 5 minutes to midnight Edward." She laughed dryly. "I don't even know what that means."

"I think that we should have trust in our administration to make the right decisions for us. They'll make sure it doesn't happen."

"But how?"

"I don't know Angie." He took a swig of his wine glass. "I'm not sure if you noticed, but John's existence has been a deterent. Frankly, if I were him, I'd just 'appear' in Moscow and flatten the entire city, and then the country."

"That's horrible." Lina whispered.

"It is. But deep down, all of us are hoping he'll do it." Lina didn't disagree. She hated what the world had become.

He saw the expression on her face and wanted to kiss her breathless. Something as beautiful as her shouldn't be burdened with such worries. Everything was out of her control anyways.

...

Edward's body stiffened. He became aware of two men in suits trying to look inconspicious. They were being watched. Edward shook his head. Of course, Oz had gaurds watching Angie's every move. Of course.

'What's the matter?" Lina probed.

"Angie..." He considered his options. If he played his cards right, he could save the world. If he played them wrong, he would die today.

"Edward, don't worry. I'm sure you're right. I'm sure the government will take care of it. We'll be fine." She smiled genuinely, but her eyes conveyed worry.

_~Worry for me?~_ He dared to dream. No one had ever worried about him before.

His suit suddenly felt like it was constricting him. That was the natural reaction of his senses when he felt that he was in danger. But maybe telling Lina everything about Ozy's plans to destroy New York would change everything. Maybe she could convince him that lying to the world and obliterating their city was not the answer. Maybe she could stop Oz, and save Edward's life.

_~Maybe she would come to me.~_

"Angie, I gotta tell you somethin." He took a deep breath.

"-Mrs. Veidt, is everything ok?" A burly, suit-clad man with large black sunglasses looked Edward over. Lina looked startled. She glanced back and forth between the two.

"Um... Do you work for Adrian?"

"Yes, ma'am."

He stood there, and Lina suddenly felt very awkward.

"Is everything okay ma'am?"

"Yes. Yes it is. This is Edward, a good friend of mine."

"I am aware."

Lina continued staring, unsure to ask him to leave them alone to continue talking, but was too polite to say such a thing.

Just then, her phone rang.

"It's Adrian." She told Edward and flipped her phone open.

"Hey hun."

_"Lina, where are you?"_

"I'm at Mantilla's, on Jarvis Ave. What's wrong?"

_"It's Demetrius."_

….::::::….

Angelina opened the door of the SUV even before it stopped on the tarmac. Spotting his plane, she hopped out and made her way quickly towards it. Adrian stepped out of the plane to greet her and she began running.

"Oh Adrian," she ran into his arms and hugged him tightly. "Have you heard anything?"

"He is stable, but I need to be with him."

"Of course." She tugged his arm as she made her way ino the plane.

For a few solemn moments, they both sat in silence. Lina prayed for Dimitrius to be well. Adrian's mind was running fast but about another issue.

Although he was very sorry to have caused Dimitrius such worry about the future of New York, but his anxiety-induced heart-attacked was timed perfectly.

Adrian shook his head at his perverse thought. What was he was becoming?

….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….

Hay! This chapter is short, but I'd be able to update more often that way.

I have a question for yous guys!

Should I carry on the story as it goes in the movie, or am I allowed to change the plot? Cuz I don't want Eddie to die just yet. I think he and Lina can go places. And maybe NYC doesn't have to be obliterated...

Let me know what you think, cuz I'm writing for you guys. (Lame, but hey. It's better than a cocaine-habit. Right?)

**Misty Day - **Thank you for taking my virginity, wifey... fiiiinally. Being a virgin was cute when I was 18. I'm 20 now. It's not cute anymore. Btw, your story "It Is Well With My Soul"? Best. Sex scene. Ever. **Superdani aka VioletFairChild** - Update 'A Reason to Exist'! Puh-lease! **D Cullen **- I love you :) **VioletEmbry4ever** - I love you too. :) **MobMotherScitah** - Thank you, I'm flattered *_* I'm gonna update more often cuz I just bought Watchmen. The movie makes it easy to come up with ideas.

Let me know if it's acceptable to change the plot please! Thx!


	10. Chapter 10

Lina and Adrian had spent the better part of the hour discussing Dimitrius' health with the doctor, which infuriated Dimitri. He felt completely fine after the stroke. Or maybe the stroke wasn't so minor, but he felt great when his son and his daughter-in-law arrived. Adrian took a step outside for some air. He was disgusted with himself.

"Oh Adrian..." She murmured to him, "He'll be fine."

Adrian couldn't speak. His throat was thick.

~What kind of son am I, making Dimitri carry the burden of my secret. I'm murdering millions, and now my Father too.~ Adrian swallowed hard as he stared off at the wall seperating him from his strong Father.

"Adrian..." Lina said, pulling her arms around him tighter.

"Do you mind if I speak to Dimitrius alone for a few moments?"

"Not at all." She released him. "I'll make us all some tea." Taking a hesitant step towards the 4 storey spiral staircase, she whispered to herself, "If I don't get lost first."

"Thank you, darling. That would be lovely." Lina hated leaving him like this. She knew there was something he wasn't telling her. But she trusted him with every bit of her soul. She knew it was insane, afterall, they had only known each other for mere days. But she did anyway. And she wanted to give him the space he desired.

Adrian's heart felt hallow and empty as he watched Lina's body disappear down the staircase. He memorized the reactions the current situation stirred up in his body. He was not used to feeling helpless, depressed, and anxious. He felt it a few times, whenever Lina was lost or insisted on going to 'work' at the job she hated so much. But, with Dimitrius ill with the burden Adrian gave him, the weight of these emotions made his shuolders heavy, and his neck ache. It was as if he was truly carrying the world on his shoulders. ~Is this how the average human feels throughout their life?~ He sighed inwardly. ~No wonder humanity is always at war with itself. They're all miserable.~ The tired man ran his hands through his golden hair and reluctantly made his way back to his Father. The doctor instinctively excused himself. Father and son watched each other in silence, as if communication through their eyes was enough.

"I am sorry Dimitrius." He whispered. Tears made their way to his eyes.

He had cried in front of his parents before, when he was a child and belonged to his biological parents. But Maria and Dimitrius had seen it for months on end when his biological parents perished. So he did not fight the tears at that moment. Dimitrius held out his arms and Adrian obeyed. "I'm sorry I've involved you in this atrocity. You don't deserve the burden of this terrible knowledge."

"I can't say I agree with your path." He shook his head with sadness. "Infact, I've never been more against anything you've done in your life. But don't let yourself think that is why I had the stroke."

"Dimitrius... Don't… Of course, it is. What else would pressure your system so much so that your heart would falter. I don't suppose you have lifelong gambling debt that you've managed to keep secret from me." Adrian spat wryly.

"Adrian. I should have told you sooner. Edward Blake..." Dimitri couldn't meet his eyes, "spoke with me. Before he left."

"Regarding?"

"New York. And Angelina."

Silence.

"What did he say?"

"He told me of a bargain he wished to propose to you." In a blur, Adrian was up and pacing across the room. His mind was reeling. Blake went to his _father _with the perverse, delusional request?

"He was asking me to convince you to give her up." Pain gripped them both. A few weeks ago, when Blake had made his proposition, it had made him even surer of his plan to create world peace by destroying a world city. If the idea of losing her to Blake sparked such grief, Adrian was sure he'd no longer be able to live if she was killed in war. He knew he'd die, even in his bomb shelter, 8 floors underground. He would _make sure_ he died with her.

That night, Adrian had gone home to Angelina, and to a night of lovemaking that took him to heights he never imagined. He wasn't sure if it was the urgency of the Doomsday Clock, or the way Blake's incessant want of Lina made Adrian fear losing her. That night was just... unplanned, and momentous. Even though there was no signing of papers, and no ceremony, Adrian felt in heart that she was his wife. Angelina Veidt.

She was a married woman and Edward Blake was trying to take her away from him."I love her so much Dimitrius." Adrian croaked with red eyes. "I can't bear the thought of another man having her." Adrian pulled off his jacket. The room was suddenly very warm. He pulled his tie loose and ran his hands through his hair again. The feeling comforted him. It reminded him of the way Lina stroked his hair as they slept, after a night of thorough lovemaking. "Have you seen the way he watches her? The way her name lingers on his lips whenever he mentions her inbetween his breaths of smoke. _Fuck!_"

Dimitri couldn't help but smile at his son.

"You're not mine by blood, Adrian, but I cannot explain how I see so much of myself in you." His heart swelled and died at little as he remembered Maria.

"Was it this way with Maria? Did your hands search to strangle a man just for laying eyes on her?"

"Yes. Which is why I'm sure that Angelina will be the next Lady of our family. You've never been so possessive of your conquests. And you balked at any mention I made of committment." Dimitrius stared out the window, at a tree close by. The initials of his late wife and himself were carved into that massive Willow tree.

Almost 40 years ago, Maria jokingly insisted that Dimitrius climb the Willow to prove his love for her. Being hundreds of years old and even taller than the estate, Maria assumed it wouldn't be possible. Hence, why it was a joke.

Adrian followed his gaze and realized what Dimitri was looking so thoughtful about. He smiled gently, yet sadly, as he remembered one of their favourite love stories.

Dimitri had been proposing to Maria for months, and she would refuse to give him a straight answer, always replying in such ways as, "We must wait until the Spring," or, "What do you think my Grandmother would say, trading the life of a whole peasant woman to that of a snub-nosed noble?" In her heart, she knew she would be with Dimitrius. He was so good to her, and he was somehow dashingly debonaire as well as innocent and naive at the same time. An unusual paradox. Dimitrius was understandably frustrated with her cold-feet, so he decided to do the impossible; climb the monster of a tree.

Maria shouted at him for having gone mad, throwing curse-words into her normally very polite language. She tried, unsuccessfully to follow him up the tree, and her yelling became more obscene. It was all Dimitrius could do to keep himself from falling off the branches in laughter. "If I break my neck today love, send that Grandmother of yours my death certificate. My blood shall be on her hands." He heckled down to his beautifully furious girlfriend. He revelled in her rantings for a few minutes while he rested at the top, but then he decided that she'd lose her voice soon if he let her continue. And that would be aweful. Because then how would he make her scream in ecstacy? (That was a detail Dimitri only told Adrian. Never his wife.)

Laughing the entire way down, he finally reached her, and was sincerely afraid that she might hit him. Her pixie face was pink and livid. She tried to fight him when he pulled her close by the waist, but he was much stronger than she, so he held her arms around his neck with ease. He kissed her once, twice, three times before she calmed down. Looking deep into her eyes, "You must marry me Maria DeCallo. This tree has waited hundreds of years for me to climb it, so that I could prove my love for you. Now I have. And now you must marry me." Maria was a fiesty little one whenever she wanted to be, so she stuck her chin out, and said,

"How do I know you made it to the very top? I couldn't see you through the green." He kissed her again, with a chuckle. "I can prove it."

Together they climbed the tree, with much guidance from Dimitri of exactly where to step, since Maria had never climbed one in her life. Eventually, they reached the top, and Maria gasped as she saw carved into the tree, "MDDG". She ran her fingers through the etching of the bark as he laughed into her hair, and murmured, "Victory is sweet."

Dimitri blinked himself out of his reverie and knew instinctively that Adrian was going over the same story in his mind. "Would it be terribly crass for me to bring your love story to life again? I'm sure your initials up there are very lonely." He suddenly wanted to take Lina up there to show her what true love was, incase she had any doubts about Adrian and herself. "I'd love to add ours."

"Don't be fooled Adrian! Maria was elated when she was touching the sky, but," he shook his head ruefully, "it was _hell_ getting her back down."

Father and son shared a moment of pure joy.

….::::::….

Lina walked in with a tray of hot drinks.

"What are you two smiling about?" She asked with a wink. Adrian and Dimitri exchanged glances.

"Love, have you ever climbed a tree?"

"... Huh?"

"Well, you've led quite a sheltered life. You don't swim... had never travelled up until dinner a few days ago..." She stuck her chest out in defiance at the accusation of being lame.

"I'll have you know I've had my fair share of life experiences. You make it sound like I've lived under a rock my whole life."

"Good, so you have climbed one."

"Um... Well no. I haven't." The men chuckled between themselves. Lina's cheeks burned as she tended to the drinks. She fumbled with the sugar spoon and they tried harder to hide their amusement. Adrian pulled her against him by the waist but Lina refused to hug him; embarassed. He got a hold of himself for a moment, long enough to pull her face to his so that he could sweep her bangs to the side and catch her eye.

"Lina, Lina, I'm sorry. I have something planned for us tomorrow morning."

"We're climbing trees?"

"It'll make sense tomorrow." He caressed her chin. She still refused to hold him tight, like an upset child. "I'm sorry Lina."

"I'm not." Dimitri said with a huff. "I haven't had a good laugh for days." Dimitri pulled his sheets aside and got up off his bed, causing Lina and Adrian to hold both his arms in alarm. "Actually, not since my dinner, have I laughed. Not since you were here last, Angelina." He pinched her chin. "You're bringing life back into this family, my dear."

"I'm glad, but.. um.. why don't you sit back down, and I'll get you your O.J."

"O.J.?" He questioned, in his thick Italian accent. Lina brought the glass to him.

"Orange juice. I was making us all some tea, but you shouldn't have caffeine or sugar." Adrian gave her a grateful smile. It was not something he would have thought of.

"I understand your concern, Angelina. You're very sweet, but I've already had coffee since before you arrived. I'm sure another cup wouldn't hurt. Adrian, set a fresh pot for me, won't you."

Adrian looked unsure. Lina had a point.

"Dimitri, I know it's probably not my place yet, but caffeine puts extra stress on the heart. There's no way Dr. Loren would approve if I asked him." She looked around. "Where did he go anyway?"

"He has one of the guestrooms in the West Wing. He'll be close to Dimitri 24/7." Adrian sipped his tea, and avoided eye contact with his father. Dimitrius looked stunned that his opinion was being discounted so easily.

"It's my health, afterall. If I want a cup of coffee in the evening, by God, I will get one." He announced stubbornly. Lina shrugged.

"Sorry, Dimitri. You're under my ward now. No coffee until you're off your meds." Adrian tried not to smile at the exchange between the two. First, he was proud that Lina cared about his father as if he was her own. As sexist and chauvenistic as it may sound, he loved her femininity, in that sense. Second, he found it unbelievably sexy that she had the nerve to tell a grown man what he could and couldn't do, with a no-nonsense tone. Third, the look on his fathers face was hilarious. It was the look he gave Maria when she swore him off milk chocolate for his health. Dimitri caught his son's slip, and gave him a death glare.

With a silent thanks to whoever, where ever… Adrian knew his family was becoming complete again.

….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….


	11. Chapter 11

Angelina and Adrian stared at the full moon. The balcony was on the 4th level and gave the most spectacular view of the gardens. It's elegance was accentuated by the moonlight. The water sparkled and the pale stone walkways and fence walls were hauntingly illuminated.

Adrian, standing close to Lina, wrapped his arms around her waist and gently pulled her close.

"I'm surprised to see how remarkably close you are to Dimitri." He noted, "When I returned, it seemed as if you and him were lifelong friends."

"How do you mean?"

"Every male needs a strong female presence. Be it in a wife, a sister, or daughter. Ever since Maria passed, he seemed lost."

"And now?"

"And now, he has the same sparkle in his eye that he did up until 4 years ago." She turned her around in his arms. He sounded grateful. He shouldn't have."If you and I truly are going to be together," she paused, regretting the way she worded that, "then he's my family now. I have two Dads." He didn't respond. He just watched her face. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say '_if _'." She smirked. "I'm still getting used to having security in my life."

"What's mine is yours. You never have to worry about going without."

"No, I don't mean financial security." She shook her head, "I mean, security, as in, having you. Just having you being there for me and never letting me go." Her smirk returned. "I still don't know _why_ you're so intense about this relationship. I got the feeling from what Dimitri said earlier that you're not usually like this."

"And why would I be? Those weren't even relationships. Minor distractions."

"I see." She bit her lip. She wanted to ask about Bree-Anne, but his father just had a stroke. Was she that evil?

"What is it?" He asked, lovingly tucking her hair behind her ear. "Do you doubt what I'm saying?" Lina denied,

"Of course not."

"Then?"

She refused to answer, forcing Adrian to let it go. Besides, he was mentally exhausted and just wanted make love to his wife. Hard. His grip on her waist had tightened without him realizing. She smiled to herself, knowing the signals that his body subconciously gave her. She knew what he wanted.

She sighed in content as his hands roamed her body, as well as his eyes. He touched every part of her except her breasts, leaving her breathless and excited. She wanted more. His large hands grasped her face and neck and left her mouth pink and puckered. He breathed in her scent with every new inch of skin he kissed, leaving her shivering involuntarily in his arms. He wasn't wearing a shirt, but she was wearing a black satin robe; part of her wardrobe picked and set aside for their bedroom on the estate. He could feel her chest through the satin, and felt himself grow harder. She grazed her nails down his back while kissing his chest, eliciting a small groan from the man. No longer able to contain his ferver like a true gentleman, he reached down between them and pulled the sash of her robe apart, letting the material fall delicately to the floor.

"I love you Lina Veidt." Lina shivered and pushed herself flush against him

….::::::….

Adrian tossed and turned.

Lina's body was illuminated by the moonlight. The thin sheen of sweat had gone by now. It had been nearly an hour since they made love. She fell asleep in minutes, but Adrian stared at the small, crystal chandelier which hung off the ceiling. Delicate strands of Bavarian crystal teardrops and prisms sparkled and danced in the wind from the open balcony. He was mesmerised, but saddened. A year ago, when he decided the course of action he needed to take to prevent nuclear annihilation, he started noticing these small details of their world.

It was as if he had missed out on the beauty of what mankind had created over the millenias, and was just opening his eyes now.

Lina stretched in her sleep and blinked awake. She loved the body heat that came from sharing a bed with Adrian. She had felt it before, whenever Jess and her fell asleep after a long night of woman-talk. But it was much different with Adrian. His body enveloped her in a protective way, that translated his love for Lina through his subconciuos. Lina smiled in her sleep. ~Wow. I am reading _way_ too much into this. He's prolly just a cuddler.~

"Did I wake you, darling?" He murmured as he stroked her jaw. He watched her writhe awake, loving the bliss of his attention."In a way." She leaned up to kiss him. "I'm used to being held now. While I sleep, I mean." Moving her body flush against his, she whispered, "Like this."

Adrian met her lips and kissed her deeply. He manuevered their bodies so that she was sprawled across his chest as he continued loving her. Her long hair grazed his chest, while her hands gripped his shoulders for a delicate balance. He was so skilled at making her lose sense of space and time. Lina frequently forgot which way gravity was supposed to pull her. After a minute, they came apart and revelled in the feeling of hot skin touching skin, and the cool wafty breeze which invaded their sphere. Lina took advantage of this moment. His feelings were vulnerable and clearly open in his eyes.

"What aren't you telling me?"

Adrian looked away. How... could she possibly know this? He was a master of hiding his true feelings and thoughts. A skill proven to be invaluable as an industry titan.

"How can I hide anything from you?" He regretted the words as soon as they formed. Now, he was just straight-up lying. ~Am I _trying_ to get rid of her?~ He asked himself sarcastically.

"I can tell everytime I look in your eyes. You pretend to be happy, but it's like you're hiding this terrible regret. And you haven't been sleeping. And, no matter how great of company I am... which I _clearly_ am," she tried to smile at her joke, "your warm, loving smiles and gestures seem like they're forced now." Adrian couldn't look her in the eye.

She rose and straddled his body completely now, covering her chest and body with the thin sheet twisted around their feet.

Lina watched his face carefully; even now his emotions were controlled. His thoughts used to play across his face before, like food-colouring mixing in underwater clouds. She forced herself to speak through the curtain of sad realization that suddenly blanketed her.

"Do you regret your decision?" Adrian stopped breathing, not knowing what she was referring to. Had The Comedian already told her? He waited for her to elaborate, but Lina took his silence the wrong way. She nodded. "This was all too good to be true anyway."

Silence.

"Do you think I am a monster?"

"No. Why would I?" She smiled ruefully. "What else can you expect from life? I kind of expected this was coming to an end soon, to be perfectly honest with you." He was suddenly holding her hands to his chest for dear life. The look on his face spoke of pain so grave.

"That's what I need you to understand, Lina." He spoke urgently. "I can prevent the end, don't you see? The sacrifice will be great, but we can spend the rest of our lives together without the ticking of the Doomsday Clock." Lina shook her head, not understanding."Wait, what?"

"The fear that has gripped the world... that is not the way humanity is meant to live. We can achieve so much more; a high quality of life for every individual person on this planet."

"Adrian, what are you talking about?"

Silence.

In a split-second he realized his misstep.

"What did you mean, when you asked if I regretted my decision." He asked carefully. He measured her heartbeat and the rate of her breathing to make sure she wouldn't hide anything from him.

"I was talking about us." She was confounded. "You seem... distant, and burdened with something. I thought you were regretting us." She swallowed thickly. "Asking me to be yours so quickly."

Adrian's heart burst apart with saddness at her hasty assumption of any sort of regret for their love.

"I don't understand you Lina!" He spun her around in light speed and began pacing around the bed. "How could you _ever_ think I don't want you? How _many_ times do I have to remind you that you are my sole reason to exist!" He shouted. Lina stared, wide-eyed at his outburst. In a blur, he climbed onto the bed ontop of her. He grasped her forearms. "What parasite keeps infecting your thoughts, making you assume I will defect in my committment to you!" Here Adrian was, trying the last week to hold himself together, so that Lina wouldn't suspect his actions and he could keep her forever. And yet his actions were having the complete opposite effect on her. She thought he was trying to _leave_ her? "When will this absurd notion leave you, Lina? What must I do to prove my love for you?"

Lina was terrified of his anger, yet elated that she was wrong. She wasn't losing him.

At all.

Adrian's thoughts strayed, answered his own question.

"Get dressed. I need to show you something." He gently pulled her to her feet and disappeared into the other room. She swayed a bit, trying to gain balance. Her mind played over the last few minutes. She didn't understand any of it. What was Adrian talking about?

She quickly pulled on her jeans and one of Adrian's dress shirts and sprinted to the other room where Adrian was already dressed and waiting by the door. He had a flashlight in his hand.

"Where are we going?"

"I'm going to teach you how to climb trees."

"Why?" What nonsense was this? He grinned cheekily, remembering his parent's story.

"It's a tradition in my family to prove their love."

"By climbing a tree?"

"You make it sound insane." Lina turned the flashlight on.

"I think that's just the way it sounds. Because... you know. It _is_."

….::::::….

Lina bit her lip as she felt a piece of bark cut into her palm. She knew Adrian had the strength of a dozen men; he was holding her effortlessly, but her fear of heights superceded her faith in him.

"Is there a reason we're doing this at night?"

"Is there any better time?"

"Yeah. During the day, when I'm not blind as a bat."

"Because that will do wonders for your fear of heights, won't it?"

~Hmph. He has a point.~ She thought, defeated. ~Wait… how does he know about that?~

"How are you proving your love for me exactly. Not that I don't believe it. Your little rant in bed was more than enough to convince me." She smirked, remembering his passion. All she had to do was remember the look he had in his eyes the next time she doubted his feelings. He had the eyes of a madman. A dashingly handsome madman.

One that she was suddenly getting the urge to kiss.

"_My little rant_?" He scoffed, albeit elegantly. He leaned down and pulled her face up to meet his eyes. "Do you not see that you drive my soul insane from the inside out?" He muttered. The little moonlight that filtered through the leaves reflected off her dark eyes.

"Actually, I was just thinking about that."

After a hard stare, he guided her a couple of feet higher into the branches and, finally reaching the highest steady branch, he held the flashlight to the carved initials of his parents. A tiny gasp escaped her lips as she peered at the secret this tree kept. "MDDG." She figured by the cheesy but cute heart carved around the letters that they represented the names of lovers."Maria DeCarlo and Dimitrius Giordano. This was carved some 40 years ago." He murmured.

Time was a marvelous thing.

They didn't even notice how much time had passed what with Adrian regaling Lina with the original love story of Maria and Dimitri, followed by several other memories he loved. Not until the sky turned from pitch black to light blue and orange did they remember that they were in a Willow tree, many meters above ground.

"No one except for Maria, Dimitri, and myself have knowledge of this secret. Would I have shown you if my feelings for you were inconstant?" He shone the flashlight back to the initials. "Would I have carved our initials next to theirs if you were only temporary to me?"

"Adrian..." She gasped at the 'AAAV' "I can't believe..."

"Remember how before I said that my family had this tradition?"

"Yes."

"Well, I just made it a tradition tonight." He kissed her hand tenderly and swept her silky strands of jet out of his way, allowing him to kiss her pink, pillowy lips. "I want our children to climb this tree when they fall in love. And their children."

~That is, if the radiation of an atomic blast does kill the tree first.~ She thought sadly. ~But no, Adrian will fix this. Adrian has a pla-…~

"Oh!" She exclaimed. Suddenly understanding the reason for his burden. "Were you talking about the Cold War? Is that why you've been acting this way?" She climbed onto his lap, and he kept their balance among the sturdy branches. "I'm so sorry Adrian. I can't believe I've been so blind! You have the entire world's future in your hands... of course you aren't sleeping, and that's why you're eyes always look exhausted." She kissed him deeply, shivering when she felt an arm encircle her tightly.

"I love you. And if I must, I will die saving this world from annihilation. Because saving the world means saving you."

….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….….::::::….

First of all, thanks for reading… STILL! Though I can't imagine why you would…

Oh yeah, b/c you're all hungry sex-mongers? Right? Mwhahahaha! But it's ok, I am too. : )

I was reading over the story in it's entirety and I realized, sadly, that a lot of the paragraph/page breaks were missing, which caused a lot of different parts to be weirdly jumbled together. I wonder how long it's been like that…

After a little sleuthing, I think I found a way to replace current chapters with newer, updated versions of them, without losing comments or filling your inbox with a million sudden update alerts (for those who have subscribed). Usually, anything on this website takes like 30 min to update, so I'll make the changes in my account, but I'll be asleep by the time it updates (or doesn't), so I can't double check for like a day. (It's 6:56am right now, lol). And, in my experience, this website is kinda lame at saving changes. So I'm guessing it won't really work. (Although I'm super grateful for this medium of expression.) If the paragraph/page breaks aren't there by the time you check it out, I'm sorry. I have failed. But rest assured that Chapters 10 and 11 have them and future chaps will too.

THX! LOVE YOU ALL _**SO**_MUCH! Like… More than Werther's Original toffee. Which, mind you, is delicious.

**MobMotherScitah** - Creepy watchdogs _are_ creepy. I would know cuz, you know, I'm totally loaded and taken care of. Gotta deal with ma own watchdogs on a daily basis. Sigh, the life of an awesome woman... Lol. **Teri Neko** - Adrian _is_ sexy. Thank you to Matthew Goode's Mom and Dad for doing it. Also, I think it was cute when she doubted his love before, but now I think it's getting kind of lame. I mean, they've known each other for what… 3 days now? When a superhero professes his undying love for you, at first, ya, be sceptical. But then… get over it, and accept that you saved an elderly man from a burning building in your past life to deserve this God of a man. Right? **Jenny Joker** - Aww thx ^_^! But I'll tell you a secret. My ovaries do all the writing. Seriously. When they're turned on… it's fan time. **Superdani akaVioletFairchild** - What can I say lady? What can I say to you except for… update your Twilight story or die. Kay, thanks! .:: grumble grumble ::. **DCullen** - Again my ovaries. But thanks brah! Love yous! :D **VioletEmbry4ever** - I'll tell you something that'll make you 'die and go to heaven' faster than the story did. Did you know Matthew Goode is Irish? Does that do anything for you guys? I watched him in Leap Year, and um, he kinda made me want to take my Irish ex back. Yikes. J'adore vous. **Misty Day** - Announcment! (of sorts?) Misty Day has a new story called **Cold Winter Days and Warm Winter Nights**! I was given the honour of beta-ing it like early July, but I kiiind of gave her an email I don't really use anymore and didn't realize until like 2 days ago. So. I'm positive she's gonna rip my thatchers off when I get the nerve to talk to her again, but alas, my thatchers (female balls) are not worth our friendship. Because they don't reproduce. If they did I could make babies by myself, and sell them! But then, where's the fun in a-sexual baby-making?… Read her story! It's kickass and way less perverted than mine! Luv you woman. **WolvesKey** - Thanks for being accepting of my shameful filler chapters. I feel like less of a con-artist now. By a small-margin. But at the same time, I'd like to declare that I have $10,000,000 in a bank account waiting to be deposited into yours. Please naively gimme all of your personal info so I can steal your identity, while pretending to transfer the money. (Has anyone you know ever fallen for that email, lol?) **xx I RULE xx** - Two updates in 1! For yous? **Helen** - Thanks for reading! I'll try to!


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